With Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF), picking up a stake in Jio Platfoms, it has completed 25 per cent of dilution of equities to the investors, said a report by the Gulf News.
Jio Platforms is part of the Reliance Industries owned by Mukesh Ambani. The PIF will acquire 2.33 per cent for an estimated $1.5 billion, the report said.
25% is the maximum which Jio Platforms intend to dilute to financial investors. Any new investors coming on board in future will have to be “strategic investors, a tech giant, for instance,” said a source who was part of the deal-making process, the report said.
In recent days, Jio Platforms, which will merge telecom, content streaming, gaming and ecommerce features into its app, has seen Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala and ADIA pick up significant stakes amounting to $1.2 billion and $750 million, respectively.
Reliance Industries’ owner, Ambani, has been on an investor acquisition spree, with the likes of Facebook and private equity majors such as KKR and Silver Lake Capital investing in Jio Platforms.
The contours of the deal with Saudi Arabia’s PIF was finalised during Ramadan. “It was always Mukesh Ambani’s wish to have a special relationship with Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” said Anshuman Mishra, a London-based confidante and family friend of the Ambani family, Gulf News quoted as saying.
Also Read: Mubadala invests Rs 9,093 crores in Jio Platforms
