Qatar to buy stake in JioFiber, planning to invest around $1.5 billion

As per news source, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is planning to invest around $1.5 billion (about Rs 11,200 crore) in Reliance Industries’ Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) which holds the company’s fibre-optic assets. QIA is in advanced talks with Reliance Industries regarding the matter.    

After raising an amount of over $20 billion through stake sales in Jio Platforms, now the company is looking forward to monetize its fibre assets held by Jio Digital Fibre  

“Fibre network business monetization falls exactly in line with RIL’s original plan to make Jio become an asset-light digital services company and save significantly on costs as the group is gearing up to offer affordable 5G services. It has an immense revenue generation potential,” said one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity.

“Qatar Investment may invest $1.5-2 billion in RIL’s fibre business.”

Reliance has hired Citigroup Global Markets, Moelis and Co. and ICICI Securities as investment bankers for the deal.  

Last year, Reliance received Rs 25,215 crore investment in an InvIT holding its telecom tower assets from a consortium led by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management.

Jio Digital Fibre has a 700,000 km network of fibre-optic cables in India and plans to expand it to 1.1 million km.

Last year, Reliance Jio Infocomm demerged its fibre and tower businesses into Jio Digital Fibre and Reliance Jio Infratel. This has helped Reliance take these assets off its balance sheet. The two entities now operate independently, with Reliance Jio Infocomm as the sponsor.

According to the current plan, Reliance Jio Infocomm will continue as the sponsor of the InvIT and retain a minimum 15% stake, while the remaining 85% would be sold to global investors, including Qatar Investment Authority.