Vista Equity Partners to Invest Rs 11,367 Crore in Jio Platforms

Private equity firm Vista Equity Partners is all set to invest Rs 11,367 crore into Jio Platforms for a 2.32 per cent stake. This is the third investment announcement for Reliance Industries after social media giant Facebook and Silver Lake’s share acquisition plans over the last two weeks.

On Friday, in a statement, Reliance Industries (RIL) said, “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.” Jio Platforms is a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL.

Commenting on the transaction, Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, RIL, said, "I am 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."

Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista, said that the PE firm believes in the potential of the digital society that Jio is building for India.

“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,” he added.

In its statement, the RIl said that the investment will be subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.

Jio Platforms, with this latest transaction will be having a net combined Rs 60,596 crore for the unit of Reliance Industries which comprises mainly its telecom business under Reliance Jio Infocomm, which is the largest in the country with over 388 million subscribers.

With this, Vista will become the largest investor in Jio Platforms after RIL and Facebook. Last month, social media platform Facebook said it would be investing USD 5.7 billion in Jio Platforms for a 9.99 per cent stake. Then earlier this month, US private equity firm Silver Lake said it will invest Rs 5,655.75 crore (USD 747 million) in Jio Platforms for a 1.15 per cent stake.