Recession? What recession? This seems to be the question that Reliance Industries’ digital subsidiary Jio Platforms is asking today as yet another big name – KKR & Co. Inc – joined them as an investor. This is the company in as many weeks to buy a stake in the fast-growing digital services company.
Jio Platforms Limited today announced that KKR will invest Rs 11,367 crore into Jio Platforms.
This is KKR’s largest investment in Asia and will translate into a 2.32% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. KKR is making the investment from its Asia private equity and growth technology funds.
This transaction values Jio Platforms at an equity value of ₹ 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of ₹ 5.16 lakh crore.
Over the last month, leading technology investors, such as, Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista, General Atlantic and KKR have announced aggregate investments of ₹ 78,562 crore into Jio Platforms. The American global investment company manages various asset classes including private equity, infrastructure, and real estate through its strategic partners and hedge funds.
Jio Platforms, with more than 388 million subscribers, has made significant investments across its digital ecosystem, powered by leading technologies spanning broadband connectivity, smart devices, cloud and edge computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, augmented and mixed reality and blockchain.
Jio’s vision is to enable a Digital India for 1.3 billion people and businesses across the country, including small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers so that all of them can enjoy the fruits of inclusive growth.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, “I am delighted to welcome KKR, one of the world’s most respected financial investors, as a valued partner in our onward march to growing and transforming the Indian digital ecosystem for the benefit of all Indians.”
He added: “KKR shares our ambitious goal of building a premier Digital Society in India. KKR has a proven track record of being a valuable partner to industry-leading franchises and has been committed to India for many years. We are looking forward to leveraging KKR’s global platform, industry knowledge and operational expertise to further grow Jio.”
JIO STRIKES FIFTH DEAL!!!KKR to invest ₹11,367 cr into Jio Platforms#RelianceJio #Jio #KKR pic.twitter.com/VkuPMxV2nTMay 22, 2020
Henry Kravis, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of KKR, said, “Few companies have the potential to transform a country’s digital ecosystem in the way that Jio Platforms is doing in India, and potentially worldwide. We are investing behind Jio Platforms’ impressive momentum, world-class innovation and strong leadership team, and we view this landmark investment as a strong indicator of KKR’s commitment to supporting leading technology companies in India and Asia Pacific.”
Founded in 1976, KKR has a long history of building leading global enterprises and successfully investing in businesses in the technology sector, including BMC Software, ByteDance and GoJek through its private equity and technology growth funds.
Since inception, the firm has invested over $30 billion (total enterprise value) in tech companies, and today the firm’s technology portfolio has more than 20 companies across the Technology, Media and Telecom sectors. In addition, India has been a key strategic market for KKR with a history of investing in the country since 2006.
