Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Bags 1.16% Stake In Reliance Jio For INR 5.6K Cr

United Arab Emirates-based sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has committed to investing INR 5,683.50 Cr in Reliance Jio Platforms for 1.16% equity stake. The investment has come at an equity value of INR 4.91 Lakh Cr and an enterprise value of INR 5.16 Lakh Cr.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Industries and AZB & Partners, and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsel.  The investment comes three-days after another Abu Dhabi sovereign investment firm Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala) committed to invest INR 9.093.60 Cr in Jio Platform for INR 1.85% equity stake.

Meanwhile,  private equity firm Silver Lake, along with its co-investors, has infused an additional INR 4,546.80 Cr into the company. With this,  Silver Lake’s investment in Jio Platforms has increased to INR 10,202.55 Cr, acquiring a 2.08% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis.

The latest investment has taken Jio Platform’s total to fundraise to INR 97,885.65 Cr from leading investors such as Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala and ADIA in less than seven weeks. Of this, Facebook has invested INR 43,574 Cr ($5.7 Bn) for 9.99% stake in the company. Followed by KKR and Vista Equity Partners with 2.32% shares worth INR 11,367 Cr ($1.5 Bn) each.  General Atlantic have also invested INR 6,600 Cr ($869 Mn).

According to media reports, even Saudi Arabia’s $320 Bn sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) may also participate in Jio’s fundraising spree, along with Microsoft.

Commenting on the latest investment, Reliance Industries Limited chairperson and managing director, Mukesh Ambani, said, “I am delighted that ADIA, with its track record of more than four decades of successful long-term value investing across the world, is partnering with Jio Platforms in its mission to take India to digital leadership and generate inclusive growth opportunities. This investment is a strong endorsement of our strategy and India’s potential.”

ADIA invests in technology assets, both publicly listed and private. The sovereign fund has bought shares in publicly listed companies like LIC Housing, Jindal Stainless, Inox Leisure, Escorts LT, Infosys and ICICI Bank till March 2020. Technology is one of the five target areas for the investment firm.

Hamad Shahwan Aldhaheri, executive director of  private equity department at ADIA added, “Jio Platforms is at the forefront of India’s digital revolution, poised to benefit from major socioeconomic developments and the transformative effects of technology on the way people live and work. The rapid growth of the business, which has established itself as a market leader in just four years, has been built on a strong track record of strategic execution.”

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