RIL has said that the Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment Co will buy a 1.85 percent stake in its digital unit, Jio Platforms, for Rs 9,093.6 crore. The Jio Platforms investment is the largest in an Indian firm by Mubadala, which is the second-biggest state investor in Abu Dhabi after Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), managing about $240 billion in assets.
Reliance has now sold a combined 19% interest in Jio Platforms, which houses movies, music apps, and telecoms venture Jio Infocomm, in six fundraising deals including a 9.99% stake sale to Facebook Inc for $5.7 billion.
The interest in Jio Platforms highlights its potential to become the dominant player in India's digital economy. The telecoms unit has already decimated several rivals with cut-throat pricing and is counting on Reliance's retail network to expand into e-commerce.