Facebook invests Rs.43,574 crore in Jio Platforms

Facebook has invested Rs 43,574 crore in a unit of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Jio Platforms, for a total of 9.99% stakes, an all cash deal that will help the oil-tore tail conglomerate reduce debt and fortify Facebook’s presence in its biggest market, particularly for its WhatsApp unit.

RIL’s deal was closed at 10.3% higher at Rs 1,363.35 on the BSE Wednesday, having surged over 12% in intraday exchange. This exchange will put Jio Platforms at a value of Rs 4.62 lakh crore. Jio Platforms is the parent of phone and data unit ‘Reliance Jio Infocomm’ and several other digital applications like JioMart, Jio-Saavn and JioCinema. Facebook will be among the board of Jio platforms, said Anshuman Thakur, strategy head at Jio.

In addition to this, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail and WhatsApp have signed a settlement pact to leverage WhatsApp and JioMart, to further grow the two businesses. Jio and Facebook have decided to work together on several major projects that are likely to expand their opportunities to reach people across India. However, the details of these major projects were not disclosed.

“The core of our partnership lies in serving Indians and transforming all-round digital transformation in India. In the post-corona scenario, I am certain of India’s financial recuperation and resurgence in a brief timeframe,” said Mukesh Ambani, executive and MD of RIL, in the announcement. “Our partnership is likely to make an invaluable contribution to this transformation”

“This is particularly significant at the present time, since private ventures are the center of each economy and they need our help,” Zuckerberg said. “India has in excess of 60 million private companies and a large number of individuals depend on them for occupations.”

“With people group far and wide in lockdown, huge numbers of these business visionaries need advanced apparatuses they can depend on to discover and speak with clients and develop their organizations,” he said. Both the companies are looking forward to getting started on the business deal.