- Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund PIF is all set to take a stake in India’s Jio Platforms for an estimated $1.5 billion, will acquire 2.33 percent
Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund PIF is all set to take a stake in India’s Jio Platforms, part of the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries empire. The Public Investment Fund (PIF), for an estimated $1.5 billion, will acquire 2.33 percent as reported by Gulf News.
Jio Platforms will have diluted 25 percent of its equity with PIF coming on board. That is the maximum that they intend to dilute to financial investors, including the Facebook of Mark Zukerberg. Any new investors that will come on board in the future will have to be “strategic investors, for example, a tech giant,” said a source that was part of the deal-making process.
In recent days, Jio Platforms has seen Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala and ADIA pick up significant stakes of $1.2 billion and $750 million respectively, which will merge telecom, content streaming, gaming, and e-commerce features into their app.
The owner of Reliance Industries, Ambani, the richest man in Asia, had been on an investor acquisition spree, with Facebook likes and private equity majors like KKR and Silver Lake Capital signing on the dotted lines.
Something special
During Ramadan, the contours of the PIF contract with Saudi Arabia had been finalized. “It has always been the wish of Mukesh Ambani to have a special relationship with Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” said Anshuman Mishra, a longstanding London-based confidant and family friend of Ambani ‘s family. Over the years he has also collaborated extensively with sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf.
“The coming into Saudi Arabia to close the financial investor round in Jio is reflective of the relationship ‘s unique existence. This is also representative of the multi-billion dollar alliance with Saudi Aramco which was revealed last year.
“This is a big achievement for the foreign policy initiative of the present Indian government in the gulf, and an indication of the importance of India in the GCC.”
L Catterton is one of the world’s largest private equity firms with a focus on consumers.
Jio Platforms is at an equity valuation of some 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of some 5.16 lakh crore after this investment value.
The investment by L Catterton would turn into a completely diluted stake of 0.39 percent in Jio Platforms.
PIF will be the 11th global investor to invest in Jio Platforms. The company has now raised Rs 1,04,326.95 from 10 investors by selling the company ‘s equity to 22.38 percent taking its total fundraising beyond the Rs1-trillion mark in less than 8 weeks.
