US private equity firm Silver Lake is increasing its stake in one of India's rapidly growing tech companies, Jio Platforms. The company announced on Friday last week that it will be doubling down on its investments by purchasing an additional stake in the company worth more than $600 million.
Silver Lake joins a growing number of US firms, including Facebook, General Atlantic, and Vista, that are all betting big on Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's vision and the continued growth of his Reliance Industries conglomerate. Through the investments made, India's top telecom operator has managed to raise more than $12.2 billion over the last two months alone; an impressive feat given the economic disruptions amid the global pandemic.
Last month, Silver Lake had invested more than $750 million in Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Platforms, granting it a 1.15 percent stake in the company. The additional $600 million investment this month will effectively increase its stake in the Indian company to about 2.08 percent.
So far, Reliance Jio Platforms has closed a total of seven deals involving the purchase of its stake. Around the same time as Silver Lake's announcement, Abu Dhabi-based sovereign firm Mubadala had revealed plans of investing around $1.2 billion in the Indian company.
The new investments underscore the growing confidence of major investors around the globe in Ambani's company and its ability to generate profits in the world's second-largest online market. Reliance Jio Platforms already boasts a user base of more than 388 million subscribers, with that number expected to grow exponentially in the coming years as more Indian users come online.
Silver Lake's co-chief executive and managing partner, Egon Durban, mentioned in a statement that the company is convinced that Jio Platform's compelling business model will propel it to become one of the world's most successful tech companies. He added that Silver Lake admires Ambani and his team's vision for Jio Platforms and the company is excited to be part of the process of providing Indian users and small businesses with affordable and reliable digital services.
Jio Platforms, which was established last year to consolidate Reliance Industries' growing number of digital businesses, is now recognized as India's fourth-largest company in terms of market capitalization. Apart from operating India's largest mobile network, Jio Platforms also offers a plethora of other digital services such as digital payments, cloud storage services, video streaming, online messaging, file sharing, music streaming, on-demand video, online grocery delivery, and video conferencing.
