KKR to buy 2.32% Jio Platforms stake for ₹11,367 crore
The latest transaction gives Jio Platforms an equity valuation of Rs4.91 trillion and an enterprise value of Rs5.16 trillionFacebook, General Atlantic, Silver Lake and Vista Equity have invested in Jio Plarforms over the last one month
NEW DELHI: Private equity giant KKR will buy 2.32% stake in Jio Platforms for Rs11,367 crore, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) said in a statement on Friday. The latest transaction gives Jio Platforms an equity valuation of Rs4.91 trillion and an enterprise value of Rs5.16 trillion.
This is the fifth stake sale deal since 22 April that RIL has announced in its subsidiary, all combining to give India’s largest private sector conglomerate Rs78,562 crore against 17.12% stake of five foreign investors. The first and the largest stake sale out of the five was that of 9.99% to Facebook for Rs43,573.62 crore, announced on 22 April.
The last transaction was announced on 17 May when private equity General Atlantic bought 1.34% in Jio for ₹6,598 crore.
The KKR deal is at same valuation as the last announced 17 May transaction where General Atlantic paid Rs6,598 crore for a 1.34% stake. RIL share closed at Rs1,440.05 on Thursday, up 0.4% from previous day's close.
The other investors in Jio so far include Silver Lake and Vista Equity Partners.
All the five transactions are subject to regulatory approvals, with the one with Facebook likely to undergo a tighter scrutiny given concerns over net neutrality.
Reliance Jio Infocomm , which provides connectivity platform to over 388 million subscribers, will continue to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms.
The stake sales are part of RIL's plan to be debt-free by March.
Of the ₹43,574 crore that it will receive from Facebook, Jio plans to use ₹28,000 crore to redeem optionally convertible preference shares (OCPS) of its parent RIL and retain ₹15,000 crore in its books, Jio's top management had said in a conference call on 22 April.
As part of its plans to be debt-free, RIL is also raising ₹53,215 crore via a rights issue, a process that’s currently underway.
KKR, founded in 1976 by Kravis, Kohlberg and Roberts, is one of the largest private equity companies in the world. It is an investor in Bytedance, the company behind TikTok, a popular short video-sharing platform. KKR has a big presence in India and has been investing here since 2006.
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