(ET)
In what is being touted as the largest strategic investment for a minority stake by a technology company anywhere in the world, social media giant Facebook has agreed to invest $5.7 billion or Rs 43,574 crore for a 9.99% stake in Mumbai-based Jio Platforms, a unit of Reliance Industries (RIL). Between Jio’s last reported subscriber base of 388 million and the 700 million-plus Indian users on the three FB platforms – Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram – their combined reach will be well over a billion, albeit with considerable overlap.
The transaction gives Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO and the world’s seventh richest man according to Forbes, an opportunity to deepen FB’s presence in India, which is its largest market in terms of users and where Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, has upended the telecom industry with cheap data plans.
“At the core of our partnership is the commitment that Mark Zuckerberg and I share for the all-round digital transformation of India,” said Ambani, chairman, RIL, in a video message. RIL believes that comprehensive digitalisation will be an absolute necessity to revitalise the Indian economy in the post pandemic era.
