Reliance continues to rack up an array of impressive international investors for its Jio Platform.
After Facbeook, Silver Lake Partners and Vista Equity Partners had invested in Jio over the last few weeks, American PE firm General Atlantic has become the latest investor in Jio Platforms. The firm is investing Rs. 6598 crore into Jio Platforms in exchange for a 1.34 percent stake. The deal values Jio Platform at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise valuation of Rs 5.16 lakh crore.
“I am thrilled to welcome General Atlantic, a marquee global investor, as a valued partner,” said Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani. “I have known General Atlantic for several decades and greatly admired it for its belief in India’s huge growth potential…We are excited to leverage General Atlantic’s proven global expertise and strategic insights across 40 years of technology investing for the benefit of Jio.”
General Atlantic does bring with it significant experience investing in tech startups in India — it has invested over $300 million in Byju’s, $50 million in Unacademy, $100 million in Mu Sigma, $120 million in Bill Desk, and $80 million in NoBroker. Globally, General Atlantic manages $37 billion in investments.
Over the last month, Reliance has brought on-board a plethora of international investors for Jio Platforms. Facebook had been the first to bite, acquiring 9.99 percent of the company for Rs. 43,000 crore. Days later, Silver Lake Partners had invested Rs. 5600 crore for a 1.15 percent stake. Vista Equity Partners had followed up with a Rs. 11,300 crore investment for a 2.32 percent stake. And with the latest General Atlantic fund infusion, Jio has raised Rs 67,200 crore from the four deals.
This money will go towards paying off Reliance’s debts — Mukesh Ambani has publicly said that he wants Reliance to be debt-free by March next year. And bringing on tech investors will also help Reliance bring some tech expertise on board — over the last few years, Jio has been gradually been transitioning itself into a tech company, having acquired majority stakes in startups like Haptik, NowFloats and Fynd, creating a $1 billion streaming giant in Jio-Saavn, and running its own suite of apps. Jio Platforms now has the cash, has big-name tech investors, and runs India’s largest telecom company — a large-scale disruption of India’s tech sector might well be in the offing.