TPG and L Catterton become new investors in Jio

Over the past seven weeks, it has become a regular weekend thing: Reliance announcing a new funding round. And, it didn’t disappoint this week as well. It just informed the media that the American global alternative asset firm TPG and private equity firm L Catterton are all set to join the list of investors in the Mumbai-based firm.

While TPG will invest Rs 4,546.80 crore in Jio for 0.93% stake, L Catterton has announced to buy 0.39% stake for Rs 1894.5 crore.

The two deals are made at a similar valuation to the other recent private equity investments in Jio. Equity valuation stood at Rs 4.91 lakh crore while its enterprise valuation neared Rs 5.16 lakh crore.

Commenting on the deal, Jio’s Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said “Today, I am happy to welcome TPG as valued investors in our continued efforts towards digitally empowering the lives of Indians through the creation of a digital ecosystem”.

The latest investor in Jio Platforms, L Catterton, has successfully invested in and helped build some of the most innovative brands at the forefront of the evolving consumer landscape, including Peloton, Vroom, ClassPass, Owndays, and FabIndia.

With the latest tranche received, Jio has now secured a total investment of Rs 1,04,326.65 crore from 10 global investors in exchange for a 22.38% total stake in less than three months. 

The fundraising spree for the Mumbai-based company started on April 22 when social media giant Facebook acquired a 9.9% stake in it for Rs 43,574 crore. Since then, Vista Equity, General Atlantic, KKR, Silver Lake, Mubadala, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority have invested in Jio. These investors see Jio as a perfect potential to unlock wealth through Reliance’s multi-pronged digital ambition. 

The Mukesh-Ambani-led company had gone live with JoiMart that was said to disrupt hyperlocal commerce via the omnichannel approach. It also bet in areas including education and e-commerce.

Out of the eight deals mentioned above, the last three have been sealed by the telecom giant in the previous eight days. These funds would help the company to reduce RIL’s debt which amounted to nearly Rs 1,450 crore in FY19.