Facebook buys 10% of Reliance Jio

Facebook bought 10% stake of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jiospending USD 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) to making it the biggest FDI inIndia.

"Today we are announcing a USD 5.7 billion, or Rs43,574 crore, investment in Jio Platforms Ltd, part of Reliance Industries Ltd,making Facebook its largest minority shareholder," the company said in astatement.

Reliance in a separate statement said the investment byFacebook values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money enterprise value(USD 65.95 billion, assuming a conversion rate of Rs 70 to a US dollar).

"Facebook's investment will translate into a 9.99 percent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis," it said.

Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RelianceIndustries Ltd (RIL), houses digital services of the group. Reliance JioInfocomm Ltd, with 388 million subscribers, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JioPlatforms.

The Facebook deal is part of value unlocking by RIL to cutdebt. RIL has been seeking strategic partnerships across its businesses whiletargeting to deleverage its balance sheet.

It has been talking to Saudi Aramco for sale of a 20 percent stake in its oil-to-chemical business for an asking of USD 15 billion. RILhas already tied up with BP Plc for fuel business as it targets to have adebt-free status by next year.

Jio had also been reportedly talking separately to Googlebut the fate of those discussions is not known.