Jio Platforms has raised Rs 1,17,588.45 crore since April 22 Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) said on Friday that US-based Intel Corporation's investment arm, Intel Capital, will buy a 0.39 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 1,894.50 crore.
The deal gives Jio Platforms an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore, Reliance Industries said in a release early on Friday.
RIL said the transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.
Intel Capital joins a long list of investors bullish on Reliance Industries' digital services arm, including internet giant Facebook.
This is the twelfth investment in Jio Platforms - which houses telecom major Reliance Jio Infocomm - within 11 weeks.In total, Jio Platforms has raised Rs 1,17,588.45 crore since April 22.Recent investors in Jio Platforms include the US-based Facebook, Silver Lake, General Atlantic and KKR, and Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.Intel Capital has an outstanding record of being a valuable partner for leading technology companies globally," said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director, Reliance Industries."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 and improve the quality of life of 1.3 billion Indians, he added.Reliance Industries' shares rose as much as 1.43 per cent to quote at Rs 1,785.65 apiece on the BSE in morning deals.At 11:13am, the Reliance Industries stock traded 0.68 per cent higher at Rs 1,772.55, outperforming the benchmark Sensex index which was up 0.32 per cent.Investments in Reliance Jio along with Reliance Industries' rights issue worth more than Rs 53,000 crore have helped the conglomerate to become net debt-free much earlier than its target of March 2021.As of Thursday's closing price, Reliance Industries' shares have risen more than 42 percent since April 22.Reliance Industries is now "in its golden decade", Mr Ambani had said last month as his group reached the milestone."I have fulfilled my promise to the shareholders by making Reliance net debt-free much before our original schedule of 31st March 2021," he had said.