Reliance Jio attracts $13 billion investment in just seven weeks

INDIAN oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries has said that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) will buy 1.16 per cent of its digital unit Jio Platforms for 56.83 billion rupees ($752 million).

Reliance, controlled by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, has now sold just over 21 per cent of Jio Platforms to investors including Facebook Inc, securing nearly $13 billion in less than seven weeks.

ADIA's investment in Jio Platforms, which comprises Reliance's telecoms arm Jio Infocomm and its music and video streaming apps, gives the unit an enterprise value of 5.16 trillion rupees, Reliance said in a regulatory filing.

On June 5, Abu Dhabi's state fund Mubadala Investment Co announced it would purchase a 1.85 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for 90.93 billion rupees.

"The rapid growth of the (Jio) business, which has established itself as a market leader in just four years, has been built on a strong track record of strategic execution," Hamad Shahwan Aldhaheri, executive director in ADIA's private equities department, said in a statement.

Since 1976, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has been prudently investing funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi with a focus on long-term value creation.

ADIA manages a global investment portfolio that is diversified across more than two dozen asset classes and sub-categories, says the firm's website.