Qualcomm Ventures to invest Rs. 730 crore in Jio Platforms

Qualcomm Ventures announced on July 12 that it has decided to invest Rs. 730 crore in Jio Platforms. Qualcomm Ventures which is an investment arm of Qualcomm Incorporated will make an investment for a 0.15% stake.

With an announced investment, Qualcomm Ventures has become a 12th investor in Reliance Industries Ltd’s digital and telecom business in less than a time period of two months.

The new investment by Qualcomm Ventures will take the total investments in Jio Platforms to Rs. 1,18,318.45 crore for a combined 25.24% holding.

Statement by Jio and Qualcomm Ventures:

As per the joint statement released by both the companies, the investment which is subject to regulatory and other approvals, takes Jio Platforms equity value at Rs. 516 lakh crore.

Chairman and Managing Director of RIL, Mukesh Ambani stated that Qualcomm has been a valued partner for several years and we both shared a vision of connectivity everything by building secure wireless and digital network and extending the benefits of the digital economy to everyone in the country.

He added that as a world leader in wireless technologies, Qualcomm has offered deep technology know-how and has insights that will help us deliver on our 5G vision and the digital transformation of the country for both enterprises and people.

CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated, Steve Mollenkopf while commenting on the investment mentioned that with the shared goal of extending the benefits of digital connectivity to everyone and everything, we have been anticipating that Jio Platforms will deliver a new set of services and experience to Indian consumers.

For the investment, Morgan Stanley has acted as a legal advisor to Reliance Industries and AZB & Partners and Davis Polk & Wardwell had acted as legal counsels. For Qualcomm Ventures, Trilegal had acted as a legal counsel.

What does this investment mean for Reliance Industries?

The investment by Qualcomm has come at a time when Reliance is pivoting itself as a consumer technology company and away from being just an energy conglomerate. The company is also betting big on 5G for propelling the next set of services.

Reliance had made it a point to stress that Reliance Jio is more of a technology company and not just a telecom firm. It also highlighted the fact that the 11 investors who picked up a stake in the company mainly focus on the global technology space.

While highlighting the latest investments, the company had also mentioned that the funds raised by selling stakes in Jio, along with a 53,124 crore rights issue, have made the company net debt-free much before the stated March 2021 deadline.

Other Investments in Jio prior to Qualcomm:

•  Intel Capital

•  Social Media firm Facebook

•  Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

•  Mubadala

•  Private Equity firms Silver Lake

•  Vista Equity Partners

•  General Atlantic

•  KKR

•  TPG

•  L Catterton

•  Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF)