Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) said on Thursday it will invest USD1.5 billion in Jio Platforms for a 2.32 percent stake in the top Indian telecom operator.
Governor of PIF Yasir al-Rumayyan said the potential of the Indian digital economy is very exciting.
"We are delighted to be investing in an innovative business which is at the forefront of the transformation of the technology sector in India. We believe that the potential of the Indian digital economy is very exciting and that Jio Platforms provides us with an excellent opportunity to gain access to that growth.”
He added: “This investment will also enable us to generate significant long-term commercial returns for the benefit of Saudi Arabia's economy and our country's citizens, in line with our mandate to safeguard and grow the national wealth of the Kingdom.”
Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani welcomed PIF as a valued partner in Jio Platforms.
"We at Reliance have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for many decades. From Oil Economy, this relationship is now moving to strengthen India's New Oil (Data-driven) Economy, as is evident from PIF's investment into Jio Platforms," he said.
Jio Platforms that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries (one of the largest Indian conglomerates) owns India’s largest mobile network operator Jio and other digital businesses of Reliance. Jio Platforms currently has over 388 million subscribers.
Jio Platforms received investments from Facebook, Silver Lake, Mubadala, among others. It has raised over USD15 billion - the largest part of which came from Facebook - by selling close to 24.7 percent stake in a little over two months.
Reliance Jio Platforms stated that this capital could be deployed to cut oil-to-retail giant Reliance Industries’ net debt of about USD21.4 billion by the end of the year.
