While the world continues to grip with the global pandemic, Reliance Jio has used these adverse times for unlocking the value of its company by selling the stake to foreign entities.
Now India’s largest telecom operator has added yet another foreign investor to its list, after signing a funding agreement with Mubadala Investment Company. Mubadala Investment Company is the investment vehicle owned completely by the Abu Dhabi government.
The Abu Dhabi based sovereign fund has pumped INR 9093.6 Crore for acquiring 1.86% stake in Reliance Jio. With this investment, Mubadala has become the sixth foreign investor and also the first investor from Middle-Eastern region to invest in India’s numero uno telecom company. All the other five investors hail from the U.S.
Reliance Jio has now collected Rs 87,655.5 crore in little less than two months. The Mukesh Ambani owned company had to dilute 18.97% stake to attract massive investment from the overseas investors.
Here is the break-up of the investment taken place during the two months
- Facebook invested INR 43,574 crore for 9.9% stake (largest minority stakeholder in the company)
- Silver Lake Partner invested $750 Mn for 1.5% stake
- Vista Equity pumped Rs 11,367 crore or $1.5 Bn for 2.32% stake
- General Atlantic poured RS 6,598 crore or $870 Mn for 1.34% stake
- KKR invests INR 11,367 crore for 2.32% stake
Meanwhile, Jio’s stake selling spree has also apparently propelled its competitors to look for overseas investment for shoring up its coffers. Reports are rife that e-commerce giant Amazon is in talks for picking up stake in Airtel while Google is in discussion to pick up stake in Vodafone-Idea.
Although Airtel and Vodafone-Idea have denied these talks, Jio’s emboldened financial muscle following the latest investment spree has certainly put pressure on them to shore up their capital reserves.