Reliance Industries announced on Monday that American private equity firm, Silver Lake, will be making a sizeable investment in Jio Platform. The announcement comes just weeks after the company’s record-breaking partnership deal with Facebok Inc.
Silver Lake is set to make a Rs.5,655.75 crore investment into Jio, bring the platform’s equity value to Rs.4.9 lakh crore.
Silver Lake to invest Rs. 5655.75 Crore in Jio Platforms at an Equity Value of Rs. 4.90 Lakh Crore. Reaffirmation of the Technology Prowess of Jio Platforms by one of the largest Tech investors Globally.#MukeshAmbani #SilverLake #Reliance#Jio #DigitalIndia #JioDigitalLife pic.twitter.com/DNw3q5PO3O
— Reliance Jio (@reliancejio) May 4, 2020
In its media release, Reliance indicated the extraordinary importance of the partnership given current economic conditions. The company believes that the support of the renowned tech-investors will be vital to jump-start the Indian economy. Given Silver Lake’s previous roster of investments, which include the likes of Airbnb, Dell, Twitter and Alibaba, the partnership is yet another indication of the possibly colossal importance of Indian economy in a post-pandemic landscape.
Commenting on the transaction, Mr. Mukesh Ambani stated, “Silver Lake is one of the most respected voices in technology and finance. We are excited to leverage insights from their global technology relationships for the Indian Digital Society’s transformation”
The investment represents a 12.5% premium to the valuation at the time of the Facebook investment on 22nd April.