Jio Platforms welcomes $1.5 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund

Jio Platforms announced it will receive US$1.5 billion from Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, for a 2.32% equity stake on a fully diluted basis.

Photo credit: Piotr Swat / 123RF

With the latest capital injection, the company has now raised a total of US$15.2 billion in two months.

PIF joins Jio’s other investors such as Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, TPG, and L Catterton. Jio’s other backers from the Middle East include Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investment firm Mubadala and a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

According to a statement, the investment in Jio is PIF’s biggest funding to date, valuing the digital services firm at US$65 billion. The fund, which acts as the main investment arm of Saudi Arabia, focuses on investing in long-term opportunities domestically and internationally.

It looks to drive the country’s economic transformation as part of Vision 2030 objectives, which was rolled out in 2016 to reduce its dependence on oil and diversify its economy.

“From oil economy, this relationship is now moving to strengthen India’s new oil (data-driven) economy, as is evident from PIF’s investment into Jio Platforms,” said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries.

India’s digital transformation market is expected to generate US$710 billion in revenue by 2024 at a compound annual growth rate of 74.7%.

With 388 million subscribers, Jio aims to digitize India for its 1.3 billion people and businesses.