PE firm Vista Equity to invest Rs 11,367 crore in Jio Platforms

Private equity firm Vista Equity Partners will invest Rs 11,367 crore (US$ 1.61 billion) in Jio Platforms for a 2.32 per cent stake. This is Jio Platforms' third deal after Facebook and Silver Lake’s share acquisition plans over the last two weeks.

“This investment values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore (US$ 69.66 billion) and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore (US$ 73.22 billion)," said Reliance Industries.

"We believe in the potential of the Digital Society that Jio is building for India. Mukesh’s vision as a global pioneer, alongside Jio’s world-class leadership team, have built a platform to scale anda advance the data revolution it started. We are thrilled to join Jio Platforms to deliver exponential growth in connectivity across India, providing modern consumer, small business and enterprises softwareto fuel the future of one of the world’s fastest growing digital economies," said Mr Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista.

The net combined value of Jio Platform reached Rs 60,596 crore (US$ 8.60 billion) for the unit of Reliance Industries after the investment from Vista equity. The business comprises mainly of its telecom under Reliance Jio Infocomm, which is the largest in the country with over 388 million subscribers.

Vista will be the largest investor in Jio Platforms after RIL and Facebook. On April 22, 2020, Facebook announced that it would invest US$ 5.7 billion in Jio Platforms for a 9.99 per cent stake. Then on May 4, US private equity firm Silver Lake announced an investment of Rs 5,655.75 crore (US$ 802.35 million) in Jio Platforms for a 1.15 per cent stake.

Vista has more than US$ 57 billion in cumulative capital commitments and its global network of companies collectively represent the fifth largest enterprise software company in the world. Presently, Vista portfolio companies have a significant presence in India with over 13,000 employees.

The world's largest tech investor, Silver Lake Partners announced an investment of Rs 5,655.75 crore (US$ 802.35 million) to buy a 1.15 per cent stake in billionaire Mr Mukesh Ambani's digital unit that houses India's youngest but biggest telecom firm.

This investment by Silver Lake was at a 12.5 per cent premium to the Facebook's US$ 5.7 billion investment for a 9.99 per cent stake in the firm.

Earlier, 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms were brought by Facebook for US$ 5.7 billion at an enterprise value of Rs 4.62 lakh crore (US$ 65.54 billion).

The financial advisor for the completion of deal was Morgan Stanley.