Reliance Jio expecting more investments in the coming weeks; General Atlantic could be the next investor

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Reliance Industries Limited have been one of the biggest talking points in the world of business, opening their company for some big players in the stream to come and invest in them. It seems like their thirst for investment hasn’t been quenched as yet having roped in investments from Private Equity giants Silver Lake and also, the biggest Indian FDI deal of all time with Facebook. Just a few days ago, they roped in a major investment from Vista Equity partners as well. It really throws light on what they’re planning to do in the coming months.

RIL is slowly understanding a fact that some of their backbone businesses are not going to help them stay relevant for long. Their focus seems to be shifting towards the virtual world, the world of internet. They are keen on bringing a revolution in the E-commerce world by bringing in more small business owners into picture. They’re expecting a major surge in online buying rather than physical retailing in the coming years, the current pandemic only adds weight to that.

They’ve roped in close to $8 billion investment since the pandemic has caused a lockdown, which is inside 45 days. According to major reports, they’re not done as yet. The next big private equity firm in line to invest in Reliance Jio is the General Atlantic. They’re one of the biggest in New York and not to mention, across the globe and the company headed by William E. Ford are keen on developing a relationship with Mukesh Ambani’s empire.

Investments expected to come from Saudi as well

Reliance is also said to be in talks with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund for divesting a minority stake in Jio Platforms, according to Bloomberg. Reliance plans to make Jio a debt-free entity this year, and is looking to dilute about 20 percent stake in the company. Jio Platforms’ valuation is likely to increase further with new investments. It has divested close to 13.5 percent in Jio already.

Some experts also reckon this was the plan Mukesh Ambani and his team had right from the outset with Jio. What we saw from the outside was just providing economic-friendly data plans to garner millions of subscribers but now with the market he’s created for himself, he plans to do many more things in the coming years. As they see it, Connectivity is the lubricant for the engines of community, content, commerce, currency, and capital. The intent is to leverage tech to capitalise on assets across RIL portfolio companies.