The chairman of oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries said he has "fulfilled a promise to shareholders much before schedule".
Reliance Industries is now "in its golden decade", said billionaire Mukesh Ambani as his group became net debt-free, much ahead of its original goal of achieving the status by the end of March 2021.
"I have fulfilled my promise to the shareholders by making Reliance net debt-free much before our original schedule of 31st March 2021," Mukesh Ambani said in a statement released early on Friday.
Over the past few weeks, oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries' rights issue of more than Rs 53,000 crore and investments of Rs 116k crore in its digital services arm, Jio Platforms, from global companies including internet giant Facebook helped the group become net debt-free much before schedule.
India’s biggest network provider Reliance Jio today announced that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund, The Public Investment Fund (PIF), has invested $1.5 billion in Jio Platforms.
That takes makes it the 11th investment in Jio Platform this year, with the Indian company raising $15.2 billion to date. With that, Jio has achieved a notable record: it has raised more money than all Indian tech startups combined in 2019. According to data from research firm Tracxn, Indian startups raised $14.5 billion last year.
Jio’s investment spree started in April with Facebook pumping in $5.7 billion in exchange for 9.9% equity. After that, some notable firms such as Silver Lake Funds, General Atlantic, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) have invested in Jio.
India’s richest man and Reliance Industries’ chairman, Mukesh Ambani, started Jio as a network provider in 2016. The carrier now has more than 388 million consumers in India. Despite the size and financial backing, Amabani still refers to the company as “a startup built in India for India by Indians.”
Reliance Jio now refers to itself as Reliance Jio Platforms that encapsulates the network business in addition to its eCommerce offering JioMart, entertainment apps such as JioSaavn, JioCinema, and JioTV, and a chat app named JioChat.
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Reliance Industries said it has raised more than Rs 1,68,818 crore in 58, taking into account investments in its digital services arm and Rs 53,124.20 crore through the issue of rights. With these investments, the group said it has become net debt-free. Its net-debt had stood at Rs 1,61,035 crore as of March 31, 2020
Reliance Industries said that the combined capital raised so far - including the rights issue and sale of a stake in Jio - has no precedence globally in such a short time.
The group said that both are also unprecedented in the country's corporate history and that it is "even more remarkable that this was achieved amidst a global lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic".
"Therefore, on the proud occasion of becoming a net debt-free company, I wish to assure them that Reliance in its Golden Decade will set even more ambitious growth goals, and achieve them, in fulfillment of the vision of our Founder, Dhirubhai Ambani, to consistently increase our contribution to India's prosperity and inclusive development," Mukesh Ambani said.
Earlier this month, Reliance Industries' rights issue was subscribed to 1.59 times, which the company said was "not only the largest ever in India but also the largest in the world by a non-financial entity in the last ten years".
Reliance Industries shares jumped 1.68 percent to scale a new record high of Rs 1,684 on Friday. The shares have broken a slew of records in the past few days, rising on the back of investment in Jio as well as the success of the rights issue say, analysts. The RIL stock is up 9.39 percent so far this year, sharply outperforming the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index which has fallen 17.08 percent.
"Exceeding the expectations of our shareholders and all other stakeholders, again and yet again, is in the very DNA of Reliance," Mr. Ambani said.
Reliance Industries sold a total of 24.70 percent stake in Jio Platforms in 11 deals for Rs 1,15,693.95 crore within nine weeks starting April 22.
Out of these 11 deals, Facebook committed the biggest capital infusion of Rs 43,573.62 crore for a 9.99 percent stake in Jio Platforms, which houses Reliance Industries' telecoms arm Reliance Jio Infocomm. The internet major was followed by US-based private equity firms Vista and KKR, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, each of which took a 2.32 percent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 11,367 crore.
Mr. Ambani had announced the target of making the group net-debt free at Reliance Industries' 42nd annual general meeting in August 2019, saying the group has "a very clear road map" to make it happen within the next 18 months.
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