World’s biggest technology company, and the most valuable company is looking to buy a stake in India’s biggest telecom player.
And this is really big.
Microsoft is looking to invest $2 billion in Reliance Jio, and dominate the telecom, Clould and digital services market of India.
Yesterday, we had reported that Google can invest in Vodafone-Idea, and grab atleast 5% share of the debt-ridden telecom behemoth.
Reliance and Facebook have already forged a partnership worth $5.7 billion for 9.99% stake in Jio.
What exactly is happening here?
Microsoft Looking To Invest $2 Billion In Jio
As per unconfirmed reports coming in, Microsoft can invest $2 billion or Rs 15,000 crore into Reliance Jio, and buy a minority stake in the telecom and digital company from India.
An investment of $2 billion will roughly translate to acquiring a share of 2.5% in Jio.
Facebook had spent $5.7 billion to acquire 9.99% stake in Jio.
An unnamed source said, “Microsoft has been in discussions with several players in the digital payments services space. With Reliance, Microsoft is interested in buying more than a 2.5% stake in Jio Platforms,”
In the last few days, Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio has attracted more than $11 billion of funding from major investors and corporate behemoths such as Facebook Inc., KKR & Co., Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners and General Atlantic.
Why Microsoft Can Invest In Reliance Jio?
From the preliminary talks, and rumors, it seems that Microsoft is keen to push their Cloud technology services, using Reliance Jio’s insane reach and impact in India.
In February, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had informed that a deal has been forged between Reliance Jio and Microsoft, wherein Reliance will set up Microsoft’s Azure Cloud computing hub across India, for enterprise clients.
With Google in talks to invest in Vodafone-Idea, and Facebook-Jio partnership already in place, this recent news of Microsoft interested to invest in Jio makes the whole matrix even more complex, and fascinating.
There has been no confirmation from either Microsoft or Jio regarding this development.
Mint says, “While Microsoft has shown a keen interest in cementing its partnership with Jio Platforms by buying a stake in the company, there is no guarantee that the investment will go through, the second person said, also requesting anonymity.”
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.