HI FRIENDS,
Google is investing Rs. 33,737 crores in Jio Platforms for 7.7 percent stake, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).
The telecom arm of the Indian conglomerate also recently sold its small stake to Intel’s investment arm at Rs. 1,894.50 crores.
The fresh investment is a part of Google’s India Digitisation Fund worth Rs. 75,000 crores.
As a result of Google’s investment, Jio Platforms has raised a total of Rs. 1,52,056 crores by selling 32.94 percent stake to various foreign investors.
Mukesh Ambani said
Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director
“Today, we’ve signed a binding partnership and an investment agreement with Google,”
The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.
The fresh investment is a part of Google’s Digitalisation Fund that the search giant announced at the Google for India virtual event on Monday.
Jio Platforms and Google have also entered a strategic agreement to develop an Android-based operating system and bring an entry-level Android smartphone that has Google Play store.
Sundar Pichai Said :
Google CEO
“Getting technology into the hands of more people, it’s a big part of Google’s mission to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and usable,”
“Through this partnership with Jio Platforms, we see the chance to have an even greater impact that either company could have alone. This partnership is a key part of Google’s next chapter of investment in India.”
Sundar Pichai added that the investment in Jio Platforms is the biggest from the Rs. 75,000 crores quota that will be infused in the Indian economy in the next five to seven years.
Mukesh Ambani Said at the company’s annual general meeting :
Google will pick up 7.7 percent stake in Reliance Industries technology venture for Rs. 33,737 crores.
“We are delighted to welcome Google as a strategic investor in Jio Platforms. We have signed a binding partnership and an investment agreement under which Google will invest Rs. 33,737 crores for a 7.7 percent stake in Jio Platforms,”
This takes the cumulative fund raising by Reliance in less than three months to Rs. 2,12,809 crores.
This includes investments by Facebook and other investors in Jio Platforms and Rs. 53,124 crores Rights Issue, and investment by BP in fuel retailing venture.
Mukesh Ambani Said :
“It is in excess of our net debt of Rs. 1,61,035 crores at the end of FY19-20,”
“Reliance is now truly a zero net debt company, well ahead of my goal of March 2021. It has an extremely strong Balance Sheet that will support growth plans for its three Hyper-Growth Engines Jio, Retail and O2C.”
Reliance has concluded its JV with BP in the existing fuel retailing business.
Mukesh Ambani Said :
“BP has invested Rs. 7,629 crores for their 49 percent stake in the JV,”
Qualcomm Ventures announced the acquisition of a 0.15 percent stake in Reliance’s Jio Platforms at Rs. 730 crores.
That partnership was specifically aimed to help “roll out advanced 5G infrastructure and services for Indian customers”, though the government is yet to kick off the 5G auction in the country.
Apart from Qualcomm, Intel and Facebook are the other two tech companies that have invested in Jio Platforms in the last three months.
The telco also attracted global equity firms including Silver Lake, TPG, and L Catterton as well as wealth funds such as Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Mukesh Ambani Said :
Reliance Industries has cumulatively raised a total of Rs. 2,12,809 crores, which is in excess of its net debt of Rs. 1,61,035 crores at the end of the financial year,
Mukesh Ambani Said :
“This is unprecedented in the history of capital markets in India, indeed, there would be very few parallels globally,”
The JioMeet solution saw 50 lakh downloads within days of its launch, Ambani told the investors at the AGM.
The video conferencing solution was initially spotted in May, albeit debuted officially just earlier this month.
It was initially a mock of video conferencing app Zoom, though it received an update recently to distinguish the experience to some extent.
[…] Reliance Industries also revealed a Rs. 33,737 crores investment from Google in Jio Platforms. […]