Jio gets new marquee investor: Vista Equity to buy 2.32% for Rs 11,367 crore
Jio Platforms gets third high-profile investor after Facebook and Silver Lake. RIL’s digital unit has now raised Rs 60,596.37 crore from leading technology investors in less than three weeks.
Vista Equity Partners, a US-based private equity firm that runs the world’s largest exclusively tech-focused fund, will pick up a 2.32 percent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 11,367 crore, making it the third high-profile investment in the Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) unit in as many weeks and underlining its status as a next-generation software and platform company.
This investment values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. Vista’s investment, which makes the largest investor in Jio Platforms behind RIL and Facebook, is at a 12.5 percent premium over the deal with the social media network announced in April.
Jio Platforms has now raised Rs 60,596.37 crore from leading technology investors in less than three weeks, RIL said in a statement on May 8.
Vista has a track record of investing in cutting edge tech companies in their early stage. Each of its investments has been profitable in its history of 10 years. This is the PE giant’s first sizeable investment in India.
In April,
Facebook bought a 9.9 percent stake in Jio for Rs 43,574 crore. This was the social media powerhouse’s biggest investment since its $22 billion buyout of WhatsApp in 2014. On May 4, American private equity giant
Silver Lake Partners purchased 1 percent of Jio Platforms for Rs 5,655.75 crore.
Commenting on the transaction with Vista, Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries Ltd, said he was delighted to welcome Vista, one of the world’s marquee tech investors globally as a valued partner. “Like our other partners, Vista also shares with us the same vision of continuing to grow and transform the Indian digital ecosystem for the benefit of all Indians. They believe in the transformative power of technology to be the key to an even better future for everyone.”
Commenting on the investment, Robert F Smith, founder, chairman and CEO of Vista, said, “We believe in the potential of the Digital Society that Jio is building for India. Mukesh’s vision as a global pioneer, alongside Jio’s world-class leadership team, have built a platform to scale and advance the data revolution it started. We are thrilled to join Jio Platforms to deliver exponential growth in connectivity across India, providing modern consumer, small business and enterprise software to fuel the future of one of the world’s fastest growing digital economies.”
Diverse marquee investors are becoming long-term shareholders of Jio Platforms because of a unique set of technologies and platforms under one entity. There are no similar opportunities available anywhere else globally.
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