Silver Lake, a global leader in technology investing has agreed to invest ₹5,655.75 crore in Mukesh Ambani led Jio Platforms Limit at an equity value of ₹4.90 lakh crore and an enterprise value of ₹5.15 lakh crore and represents a 12.5% premium to the equity valuation of the Facebook investment announced on April 22, 2020 .
Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, is a next-generation technology company building a Digital Society for India by bringing together Jio’s leading digital apps, digital ecosystems and high speed connectivity platform under one umbrella.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, which provides connectivity platform to over 388 million subscribers, will continue to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms.
Commenting on the transaction with Silver Lake, Mr. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director,
Reliance Industries Ltd, said, “I am delighted to welcome Silver Lake as a valued partner in continuing to grow and transform the Indian digital ecosystem for the benefit of all Indians. Silver Lake has an outstanding record of being a valuable partner for leading technology companies globally. Silver Lake is one of the most respected voices in technology and finance. We are excited to leverage insights from their global technology relationships for the Indian Digital Society’s transformation.”
Jio’s vision is to enable a Digital India for 1.3 billion people and businesses throughout India, especially small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers. Jio has brought significant changes in the Indian digital services space and propelled India on the path towards becoming a global technology leader and among the leading digital economies in the world.
"In the wake of the severe economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic , globally and especially within India, this partnership with one of the most renowned tech-investors globally, Silver Lake, has special significance," said a RIL statement.
With approximately $40 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a singular focus on the world’s great tech and tech-enabled opportunities, Silver Lake investments have included Airbnb, Alibaba, Ant Financial, Alphabet’s Verily and Waymo units, Dell Technologies, Twitter and numerous other global technology leaders.
Commenting on the investment, Mr. Egon Durban, Silver Lake Co-CEO and Managing Partner, said, “Jio Platforms is one of the world’s most remarkable companies, led by an incredibly strong and entrepreneurial management team who are driving and actualizing a courageous vision. They have brought extraordinary engineering capabilities to bear on bringing the power of low-cost digital services to a mass consumer and small businesses population. The market potential they are addressing is enormous, and we are honored and pleased to have been invited to partner with Mukesh Ambani and the team at Reliance and Jio to help further the Jio mission.”
"This investment by Silver Lake is further testament to the world-class digital platform that Jio has built, powered by leading technologies, such as Broadband connectivity, Smart Devices, Cloud and Edge Computing, Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Augmented and Mixed Reality and Blockchain," said the statement.
RIL shares on BSE were trading down 1.4% at ₹1,446.45 in a weak Mumbai market on Monday.
"Comprehensive digitisation will be a vital component of the revitalisation of the Indian economy. It is our strong conviction that no one should be deprived of the tremendous new opportunities, including those for new employment and new businesses, embedded in India’s 360-degree digital transformation," the statement added.
