ADIA to buy 1.16% stake in Reliance Jio Platforms

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will invest $752 million to buy a 1.16% stake in Reliance Jio.

This will be the third investment that Reliance’s digital arm has raised in the past week and the eighth in less than seven weeks. AIDA will make its investment through one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries.

The deal comes through just days after the Mubadala Investment Company announced its decision to buy a 1.85% stake in the digital platform. On June 5th, the private equity fund, Silver Lake had also made an additional investment taking its stake up to 2.8%.

Sources suggest that with this investment, Jio Platforms has raised nearly $13 billion from leading global investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala and ADIA in less than seven weeks.

“The rapid growth of the [Jio] business, which has established itself as a market leader in just four years, has been built on a strong track record of strategic execution.”
Hamad Shahwan Al Dhaheri,
Exe. Director, PVT Equities Dept, AIDA

Reliance Industries Chairperson Mukesh Ambani said he was delighted to partner with ADIA. “This investment is a strong endorsement of our strategy and India’s potential,” he added.

Reliance has now traded its targeted 21% equity. The young brand which is just 4 years old, was a game-changer in the Indian telecom landscape. It provides high-speed internet at an affordable price and has changed the internet usage habits of India. The top telecom operator has over 388 million subscribers. Jio’s long term growth potential and the large consumer market of India makes it attractive to global investors.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, has set a target to make the conglomerate net debt-free by March 2021. With these investments, the target is likely to be achieved earlier.

AIDA has been making investments on behalf of Abu Dhabi since 1976. They focus on investments that provide long term value creation and have been investing in Indian equities for years.