INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Ltd will invest Rs 1.08 lakh crore through a rights issue in a newly formed, wholly owned subsidiary, which in
turn will use the proceeds to invest in Reliance Jio Infocomm with the aim of making the telco a virtually net debt free company by March
crore in the telco will be transferred to the wholly owned unit.
In addition to the three-year-old carrier Jio, all the other digital
businesses of the group such as JioCinema, JioTV, JioSaavn and other platforms such as education, healthcare and gaming will be housed in
Mukesh Ambani said in a statement
the new company as a truly transformational and disruptive digital services platform
move is an attempt to mirror the structure of companies such as Alphabet-Google, Alibaba and Tencent and attract comparable valuations in
Asia, at consultancy firm Analysys Mason.
People familiar with the matter said any potential investor has the choice of putting money in the
platform, through which it will get a holding in Jio, or owning a direct stake in the telecom company
Jio has already reduced its debt by over Rs 1lakh crore by hiving off its fibre and tower assets into two separate infrastructure investment
digital platform company with negligible leverage makes a compelling investment proposition for both strategic and financial investors, many
shares (OCPS) that the wholly owned unit will issue to RIL will be redeemed when a new investor enters the subsidiary, said people familiar
said.
A person aware of the development said there will be no changes in spectrum licences, which will remain with Jio
be a big burden, they said.
