Posted by Mumbai: Google will invest ₹33,737 crore in Jio Platforms, buying a 7.73% stake in the Reliance Industries owned digital venture. This is a part of Google’s $10 billion investment in India announced on Monday and it is the Google for India Fund’s first investment.
Google and Jio Platforms today announced the signing of binding agreements as part of this deal. The equity valuation of Google’s investment of ₹33,737 crore ( approx $4.5 billion) in Jio Platforms is ₹4.36 lakh crore. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other applicable customary approvals
With this, the total investment from financial and strategic investors into Jio Platforms stands at ₹ 1,52,056 crore.The investment will build on 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.
“Google has empowered millions of Indians to access helpful information and, like Jio, is a force for change and innovation,” said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and MD – Reliance Industries.
“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,” added Ambani.
“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 pro ducts for India first helps us build better products for users everywhere,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet.
“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,” added Pichai.
Jio Platforms, a majority-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is a next-generation technology platform focused on providing high-quality and affordable digital services across India, with more than 388 million subscribers.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, which provides connectivity services to over 388 million subscribers, will continue to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms.
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.