L Catterton becomes tenth investor in Jio Platforms, picks 0.39% stake for Rs 1,894.5 crore; RIL's digital arm raises 1.04 lakh crore in seven weeks

L Catterton, a consumer-focused private equity firm, picked 0.39 percent stake in Jio Platforms with an investment of Rs 1,894.50 crore, becoming the tenth investor in the Reliance Industries’s digital arm in seven weeks. RIL, the oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate, has now sold 22.38 percent stake in Jio and collected Rs 104,326.65 crore from technology investors. The investment by L Catterton, which has made more than 200 investments in consumer brands, in Jio Platforms is at an equity valuation of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise valuation of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. Earlier today, RIL had announced an investment of Rs 4,546.80 crore by private equity firm TPG for a 0.93 percent stake in Jio Platforms. The series of investments in Jio, which runs movie, news and music apps as well as the telecom enterprise Jio Infocomm, was led by a 9.99 percent stake sale to Facebook Inc for Rs 43,574 crore on 22 April. Since then, General Atlantic, Silver Lake (twice), Vista Equity Partners, KKR, Mubadala Investment Company and ADIA and TPG have queued up for investments in Jio. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, “I am delighted to welcome L Catterton as a partner in our journey to unleash the power of digital for India while providing a consumer experience that is among the best in the world. I particularly look forward to gaining from L Catterton’s invaluable experience in creating consumer-centric businesses because technology and consumer experience need to work together to propel India to achieving digital leadership.” Michael Chu, Global Co-CEO of L Catterton, said, “Over our more than 30 year history, we have established a track record of building many of the most important brands across all consumer categories and geographies, from retailers, omni-channel and digitally native brands. We are strong supporters of fostering growth through product development, enhanced digital capabilities and strategic alliances. We look forward to partnering with Jio, which is uniquely positioned to execute on its vision and mission to transform the country and build a digital society for 1.3 billion Indians through its unmatched digital and technological capabilities.” Jio Platforms focuses on providing high-quality and affordable digital services across India, with nearly 400 million subscribers. Jio Platforms has made significant investments across its digital ecosystem, powered by leading technologies spanning broadband connectivity, smart devices, cloud and edge computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, augmented and mixed reality and blockchain. L Catterton, in partnership with LVMH and Groupe Arnault, has invested in and helped build brands such as Peloton, Vroom, ClassPass, Owndays, FabIndia, and more. Reliance Industries Limited is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd