Google is going to buy a stake in Reliance Industries’ telecom and digital unit Jio Platforms. If the deal is finalised, this would be a rare instance of two FANG - Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Google - companies investing in one firm, they said. Facebook had kicked off a series of investments in Jio in April.
According to a report, Google has been discussing an investment of about $4 billion (₹30,000 crore) in Jio. That could net the company a 5-6% stake in Jio Platforms, given the last 12 stake sales to 11 investors pegged Jio Platforms’ equity value at ₹4.91 lakh crore. Facebook, as the first investor in Jio Platforms, bought a 9.99% stake at a lower valuation of ₹4.62 lakh crore.
Jio and Alphabet Inc-owned Google did not respond to queries. Google said that it planned to invest $10 billion in India over five to seven years.
Jio said it intends to launch new products and services, increase internet penetration and leverage technology for social causes such as health, education and agriculture. A deal with Jio Platforms could mark the beginning of such partnerships in India, experts said.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, did not confirm or deny reports about interest in Jio Platforms. Google was reported to be in talks with RIL for an investment in Jio before the deal with Facebook was announced.
An announcement about the investment could come as early as Wednesday at RIL’s annual general meeting. Bloomberg had said such a deal could be made public in the next few weeks. Jio Platforms houses RIL’s telecom business under Reliance Jio Infocomm.
