Facebook likely to buy 10% in Jio

New Delhi, March 25

Social media major Facebook is reportedly planning to buy 10% stake in the country’s biggest telecom company Reliance Jio.

Reliance Industries Limited had set a target to make its telecom services arm Jio debt-free by March 31, 2020. According to Financial Times, Facebook is looking at buying a multibillion-dollar stake in Reliance Jio which has been valued at $60 billion by analysts at Bernstein. Both Reliance Jio and Facebook did not comment on the report.

The international financial daily said the lockdown may have an impact on the timing of the deal.

Reliance Industries (RIL) in October had announced to set up a new subsidiary to bring all its digital initiatives and apps under a single entity, and infuse Rs 1.08 lakh crore equity into this new unit.

Jio apps like JioTV, JioCinema, JioNews etc are to be brought under this new entity in a move to consolidate digital platforms into an elegant capital structure to increase the attractiveness and simplify the structure for possible strategic investors. — PTI