Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund PIF to invest $1.5 Bn in Jio

Updated on 18/06/2020: SaudiArabia’s wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) is all set to invest Rs 11,367 crore in Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio for a 2.32% stake. This is the eleventh deal closed by the Reliance Industries’ digital unit in the past weeks.

The latest deal is 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.

Jio has been having a ball in the past month and a half. Marking the largest deal in the Indian internet space, the company scooped up Rs 43,574 crore funding from Facebook for a 9.9% stake. Since then, several blue-chip backers Vista Equity, General Atlantic, KKR, Silver Lake, Mubadala, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, TPG, and L Catterton have also infused funds in Jio.

With the fresh round, Jio has now bagged Rs 115,693.95 crore from the likes of nine investors by diluting a 24.7% total stake.

After disrupting the telecom business, the Mukesh-Ambani-led company is eyeing the grocery and hyperlocal retail with its online platform JioMart. Driven by fear of missing out, large investors across the globe are queuing up to get a pie of Jio.

While Jio’s fundraising spree has dwarfed private funding landscape in the Asian economy, the company is likely not to dilute more than 25% stakes. The previous Gulf News report had added that any new investors coming on board after PIF will have to be ‘strategic investors’.

(This post has been updated after the announcement by Reliance Jio)