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Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has signed binding agreements to raise ₹33,737 crore from Google. The investment is in lieu of a 7.73 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms.
This investment by Google values Jio Platforms at an equity value of ₹4.36 lakh crore. With this, the total investment from financial and strategic investors into Jio Platforms stands at ₹1,52,056 crore, the company said in a statement.
“Google has empowered millions of Indians to access helpful information and, like Jio, is a force for change and innovation. We welcome Google onboard and are excited about our partnership for what it can deliver to Indians, from universalising Internet usage to deepening the new digital economy and providing a prime mover to India’s economic growth. Together, we hope to play a strong facilitative role in the transformative journey of building a new, Digital India,” Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of RIL said.
Jio Platforms and Google have also entered into a commercial agreement to jointly develop an entry-level affordable smartphone with optimisations to the Android operating system and the Play Store. This effort will unlock new opportunities, further power the vibrant ecosystem of applications and push innovation to drive growth for the new Indian economy, it said.
“Reliance Industries, and Jio Platforms in particular, deserve a good deal of credit for India’s digital transformation. The pace and scale of digital transformation in India is hugely inspiring for us and reinforces our view that building products for India first helps us build better products for users everywhere. Google is proud to invest ₹ 33,737 crore into Jio. I am excited that our joint collaboration will focus on increasing access for hundreds of millions of Indians who don’t currently own a smartphone while improving the mobile experience for all,” Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said.
The transaction is subject to regulatory and other applicable customary approvals, it added.
Morgan Stanley was the financial advisor to RIL and AZB & Partners and Davis Polk & Wardwell were the legal counsels. Law firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP and J. Sagar Associates advised Google on the transaction.
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