Facebook buys ₹43,574 cr. stake in Jio Platforms

WhatsApp to link JioMart, shoppers

23/04/2020, PIYUSH PANDEY ,MUMBAI

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Inc. on Wednesday announced that it had agreed to buy a 9.99% stake in the Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Platforms Limited for ₹43,574 crore, valuing the subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) at an enterprise value of ₹4.62 lakh crore.

The transaction, which will need regulatory approval, will help the RIL unit to leverage Facebook’s WhatsApp in accelerating business on the JioMart platform and connecting neighbourhood grocery stores with consumers. “In the near future, JioMart and WhatsApp will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood,” Mr. Ambani said in a video message.

Jio Platforms, which houses all of RIL’s digital businesses, intends to use a part of the funds invested by Facebook to reduce debt. “Jio Platforms has debt of ₹40,000 crore,” Anshuman Thakur, head of strategy at Reliance Jio, told The Hindu.

“About ₹15,000 crore of proceeds will stay in Jio Platforms and the remaining will be used to pay for optionally convertible preference shares investments made by RIL in this company,” he added.