Silver Lake invests $750mn in Reliance Jio hot on heels of Facebook
U.S. investment company Silver Lake invested 56.56 billion Indian rupees ($746 million) in Indian digital services company Jio Platforms Ltd, less than two weeks after Facebook pumped $5.7 billion into the company, CNBC reported on Monday.
The Silicon Valley private equity firm, which has backed companies like Alibaba, Airbnb, Dell, and Twitter, announced Monday that it has taken a stake in Jio Platforms at a $65 billion valuation.
Owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani — Asia’s richest man — Jio Platforms sits under Reliance Industries and boasts a mobile network, several apps, and other services.
“It offers mobile internet at relatively low cost and tries to make money by up-selling subscriptions to its own versions of Spotify and Netflix,” said Vishal Gulati, a venture capital investor based in London.
The Reliance Jio telecom network has amassed over 388 million 4G subscribers since launching in 2016.
Facebook announced it was taking a 9.9% stake in Jio Platforms on April 22. It is the social network’s second-largest investment after buying messaging platform WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion.
“Silver Lake has an outstanding record of being a valuable partner for leading technology companies globally,” said Ambani in a statement. “Silver Lake is one of the most respected voices in technology and finance. We are excited to leverage insights from their global technology relationships for the Indian Digital Society’s transformation.”
Headquartered in Menlo Park, Silver Lake has approximately $40 billion in combined assets under management.
“Jio Platforms is one of the world’s most remarkable companies, led by an incredibly strong and entrepreneurial management team who are driving and actualizing a courageous vision,” said Egon Durban, Silver Lake co-CEO and managing partner.
“The market potential they are addressing is enormous, and we are honored and pleased to have been invited to partner with Mukesh Ambani and the team at Reliance and Jio to help further the Jio mission.”
