Google to Invest ₹ 33,737 Crore in Jio Platforms For A 7.73% Stake

- Jio & Google To Jointly Develop Entry Level, Affordable Smartphone To Accelerate The Path To India’s Digitization

- Jio Platforms Receives Over ₹ 1.5 Lakh Crore Investment In Three Months

Reliance Industries Limited (“Reliance Industries”), Jio Platforms Limited (“Jio Platforms”) and Google LLC (“Google”) today announced the signing of binding agreements for an investment of ₹ 33,737 crore by Google into Jio Platforms. This investment by Google values Jio Platforms at an equity value of ₹ 4.36 lakh crore. Google’s investment will translate into a 7.73% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. With this, the total investment from financial and strategic investors into Jio Platforms stands at ₹ 1,52,056 crore.

The investment will build on Jio’s and Google’s existing efforts to expand the benefits of digitization across the length and breadth of India, beyond the current 500+ million Internet users in the country. Jio Platforms and Google have also entered into a commercial agreement to jointly develop an entry level affordable smartphone with optimizations to the Android operating system and the Play Store. Together we are excited to rethink, from the ground up, how millions of users in India can become owners of smartphones. This effort will unlock new opportunities, further power the vibrant ecosystem of applications and push innovation to drive growth for the new Indian economy.

Jio Platforms, a majority-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is a next-generation technology platform focused on providing high-quality and affordable digital services across India, with more than 388 million subscribers. Jio Platforms has made significant investments across its digital ecosystem, powered by leading technologies spanning broadband connectivity, smart devices, cloud and edge computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, augmented and mixed reality and blockchain. Jio’s vision is to enable a Digital India for 1.3 billion people and businesses across the country, including small merchants, micro-businesses and farmers so that all of them can enjoy the fruits of inclusive growth. Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, which provides connectivity services to over 388 million subscribers, will continue to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jio Platforms.

The transaction is subject to regulatory and other applicable customary approvals.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Industries and AZB & Partners and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsels.

The law firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP and J. Sagar Associates advised Google on the transaction.

Mumbai, July 15, 2020