India’s Reliance Jio plan to sell $600 million stake to TPG

US private equity firm TPG  will invest $600 million in Reliance Jio Platforms, joining a roster of high-profile investors including Facebook, Vista Equity Partners, Silver Lake, KKR and several sovereign wealth funds that have backed India’s top telecom operator at the height of a global pandemic.

TPG private equity is acquiring a 0.93% stake in Jio Platforms, giving the Indian firm a valuation of $65 billion. TPG, which manages $79 billion of assets, is the eighth investor that has agreed to back Mukesh Ambani’s telecom network in just as many weeks.

Mukesh Ambani backed Reliance Jio has surpassed over 388 million subscribers, and has secured $13.49 billion by selling nearly 22% stake in the company to Facebook, Silver Lake, KKR, Vista, General Atlantic, Mubadala, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority — and now TPG.

TPG is also an investor in global giants like Uber, Spotify and Airbnb, said it is impressed by what the three-and-a-half-year-old subsidiary of India’s most valued firm (Reliance Industries) has achieved in the country. 

"The company is “excited to play an early role in Jio’s journey as they continue to transform and advance India’s digital economy. Jio is a disruptive industry leader that is empowering small businesses and consumers across India by providing them with critical, high-quality digital services. The company is bringing unmatched potential and execution capabilities to the market, setting the tone for all technology companies to come." - Jim Coulter - Co-CEO, TPG

The investment further captures the growing interests of global investors in tapping the world's second largest internet market. It further coincides with WODS view that India is going to be an important hub for the upcoming 5G revolution that is going to shake the entire telecommunication industry.

Pankaj Jain, a high-profile angel investor, told TechCrunch that Jio Platforms’ digital services suite has helped it attract foreign investors. Jio Platforms owns a bevy of digital apps and services including music streaming service JioSaavn (which it says it will take public), on-demand live television service JioTV and payments app JioMoney, as well as smartphones, and broadband business.

Jio has also entered into the video gaming category and unveiled a video call assistant to automate customer support, inked a deal with Microsoft to subsidize Office 365 and Azure for small businesses in India, and unveiled plans to bring new movies to people’s home on the same day of their theatrical release.

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