By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 18th, 2024
Following in the footsteps of Facebook and Intel investing in Jio Platforms, Google may finalize its deal worth $4 billion in the coming week. The talks are already in process.
Google through its parent company Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) is reportedly advancing its negotiations to invest $4 billion in India’s telecom giant Jio Platforms. This move by Google (GOOGL) shows increasing interest by American multinational companies in the Indian telecom giant. Silver Lake Partners had earlier in May acquired a 1.15% stake in Jio Platforms in a deal worth $790 million. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) also invested $250 million for a 0.39% stake in the company. The Google deal can only be compared with Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) $5.7 billion investment (9.9% stake) in terms of monetary quantum.
The news which broke yesterday has spiked a little gain in Google stock which ended yesterday’s trading with a 0.57% higher to close at $1,520.86. The trend also continued in today’s pre-market trading wherein Google stocks traded at 0.21% higher than yesterday’s closing. While the Google deal is still being ironed out, Bloomberg reports the deal announcement if finalized could come next week.
Why It Is So Attractive to Investors
Jio Platforms Limited is an Indian digital services company and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited. In October 2019, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) announced the creation of a wholly-owned subsidiary for its digital businesses. In November 2019, the subsidiary was named Jio Platforms. The US$15 billion liability of Jio was transferred to RIL and in turn, RIL received preferential shares of Jio Platforms. Established in 2019, the company owns India’s largest mobile network operator Jio and other digital businesses of Reliance.
Headquartered in Mumbai India, the company provides telecommunication and eCommerce services that have attracted investors from around the world. On 8 May 2020, Jio Platforms was reported to be the fourth largest Indian company by market capitalization. Since April 2020, Reliance Industries has raised $16 billion by selling a 24.70% equity stake in Jio Platforms. Based on Jio Platforms’ product and services which spans through telecommunications, video streaming, video-on-demand app amongst others, investors can be sure of leveraging the firm’s extensive network and customer base.
Will Jio Platforms Be a Good Option for Google?
Google is consistently rated as one of the world’s most valuable companies and ranks as the world’s fourth technology company by revenue. Part of the company’s vast services lies under the coverage of Jio Platforms, including telecommunications, streaming services among others.
Should the Google and Jio Platforms proposed deal pull through, Google will further extend its reach to the Indian market which has shown great promise in the technologically driven scene.