NEW DELHI: US-based chipmaker Intel Corp’s investment arm will invest Rs 1,894.50 crore in Reliance Industries’ (RIL) digital venture Jio Platforms, making it the twelfth high-profile investment in the firm in less than three months.
The deal entails a 0.39 per cent stake for Intel in Jio Platform, giving the business an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore, RIL said on Friday.
“We are extremely delighted to deepen our ties with technology leaders that embody our vision of transforming India into a leading Digital Society in the world. We are therefore excited to work together with Intel to advance India’s capabilities in cutting-edge technologies that will empower all sectors of our economy,” Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries said in a statement.
With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs 1,17,588 crore from marquee firms including Facebook, Silver Lake Partners (two investments), Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF and now Intel for 25.09 per cent holding.
Jio is expected to use its 385 million wireless phone subscribers as the cornerstone of an e-commerce and digital services business to rival Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart.
The stake sale together with a record Rs 53,124 crore rights issue has helped RIL reduce net-debt to zero.