KKR Becomes Latest Investor In Jio Platforms

It seems everyone wants a piece of Jio Platforms, India’s largest mobile company.

KKR, the global investment firm based in New York, is the latest mega investor to join a deal to turn the digital subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. into a global tech giant, sources told The Financial Times.

The news service reported that KKR is in advanced talks to buy a $1.5 billion stake that would value the fast-growing Indian digital company at $65 billion, the news service reported.

On Sunday (May 17), PYMNTS reported that General Atlantic, the New York-based private equity firm, closed an $870 million deal for a 1.3 percent stake in Jio Platforms.

Facebook paid $5.7 billion for a 10 percent stake in the company, which backed by India’s richest man. Two weeks later, private equity firm Silver Lake invested $750 million in the company. Vista Equity Partners followed days later with $1.5 billion, and General Atlantic said last Sunday that it would invest $870 million.

Launched in 2017, Jio is India’s largest mobile network operator, with more than 388 million subscribers. It was founded by Mukesh Ambani, who serves as chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd., the biggest firm in India by capitalization.

The Financial Times reported that Dhabi’s wealth fund is considering buying a stake of up to $1.2 billion in Jio. “We are looking at it, but [it’s] a few weeks off,” the source told FT. He added that Jio could fit well into the sovereign wealth fund’s technology portfolio.

Since April 22, Reliance has raised around $8.8 billion from four strategic and financial investors by selling around 15 percent in Jio Platforms, starting with Facebook.

In January, Jio announced that it was entering the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) space to compete alongside rivals, PYMNTS reported. Jio provides a wallet service called JioMoney. Its goal is to be the first telecom operator to offer a UPI service, and the second among payment banks to offer the service. The UPI option is integrated into Reliance Jio’s main app, MyJio, alongside popular additions like JioCinema, JioCloud and JioTV.