Google to Acquire 7.7 Percent Stake in Jio Platforms By CIOReviewIndia Team

Google to Acquire 7.7 Percent Stake in Jio Platforms

CIOReviewIndia Team | Thursday, 16 July 2020, 01:17 IST

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Looking to gain a strong foothold in the digital space in India, Google LLC is going to invest Rs 33,737 crores into Jio Platforms. The investment by Google values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.36 lakh crores. Google’s investment will translate into a 7.73% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. With this, the total investment from financial and strategic investors into Jio Platforms stands at Rs 1,52,056 crore.

The investment is expected to reinforce Jio’s and Google’s existing efforts to expand the benefits of digitization across the length and breadth of India, beyond the current 500+ million Internet users in the country. Jio Platforms and Google have also entered into a commercial agreement to jointly develop an entry level affordable smartphone with optimizations to the Android operating system and the Play Store.  

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, “Google has empowered millions of Indians to access helpful information and, like Jio, is a force for change and innovation. We welcome Google onboard and are excited about our partnership for what it can deliver  to  Indians,  from  universalising  Internet  usage  to  deepening  the  new  digital  economy  and providing a prime mover to India’s economic growth. Together, we hope to play a strong facilitative role in the transformative journey of building a new, Digital India.”

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said, “Reliance Industries, and Jio Platforms in particular, deserve a good deal of credit for India’s digital transformation. The pace and scale of digital transformation in India is hugely inspiring for us and reinforces our view that building products for India first helps us build better products for users everywhere. Google is proud to invest ₹ 33,737 crore into Jio. I am excited that our joint collaboration will focus on increasing access for hundreds of millions of Indians who don’t currently own a smartphone while improving the mobile experience for all.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory and other applicable customary approvals. Morgan  Stanley  acted  as  financial  advisor  to  Reliance  Industries and  AZB &  Partners  and  Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsels. The law firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP and J. Sagar Associates advised Google on the transaction.   

Reliance Jio has also vowed to launch a Made In India 5G network, which the company says has been designed and developed from scratch, and will be go under trials when the 5G spectrum is available.   

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