NEW DELHi: Facebook is buying a 10% stake in the Jio digital platforms business of India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani for $5.7bn, marking one of the biggest foreign investments in the country.
The US company will buy about 10 percent of Jio Platforms, becoming the largest minority shareholder, Reliance Industries said in a statement.
Separately, Facebook said the deal would bring together JioMart, an eCommerce venture of Mukesh Ambani and its WhatsApp platform to enable people to connect with businesses, AFP reported.
The deal values Jio Platforms at a pre-money enterprise value of about $66bn, the Indian company said.
The partnership with Jio would allow Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to step up his expansion in a country that is rapidly embracing online payment and e-commerce as more people get smartphones.
Reliance Jio Infocomm burst onto the Indian wireless telecommunications market about four years ago, quickly moving into a position of dominance by offering free plans and undercutting rivals.
Working with Facebook would be a boost to the ambitions of Ambani, until recently the richest man in Asia, who has been remaking his energy conglomerate as India’s first titan of e-commerce.
“This investment underscores our commitment to India, and our excitement for the dramatic transformation that Jio has spurred in the country,” Facebook said in its statement.
With its half-billion internet users, the South Asian country is an alluring market for the world’s largest technology companies, including Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google. In India, Facebook has about 250 million users, while WhatsApp has over 400 million.
Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned unit of Reliance Industries, brings together Jio’s digital apps, ecosystems and the wireless carrier’s platform under one umbrella, according to Reliance Industries.
(with inputs from Agencies)
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