So far, Reliance has sold over 21 percent of its interest in Reliance Jio.

With regard to the stake acquisition in Reliance Jio, Hamad Shahwan Aldhaheri, executive director in Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ‘s private equities department, said in a statement, “The rapid growth of the (Jio) business, which has established itself as a market leader in just four years, has been built on a strong track record of strategic execution.”

Recently, Abu Dhabi-based investment sovereign fund Mubadala Investment also acquired a 1.85 percent stake in Reliance Jio in a deal worth $1.21 billion.

Launched in 2016, Reliance Jio has established itself as a telecom giant in India in a short spell due to its competitive pricing strategy. Backed by multibillionaire Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Jio disrupted the Indian telecom sector which led to many telcos exiting the market with Vodafone on the brink of shutting down its business in India.

The company currently has more than 376 million users in India.

So far Reliance has sold stakes in Jio Platforms to investors such as Facebook, Microsoft, and General Atlantic and has accumulated around $13 billion.

According to media reports published last month, Microsoft is also planning to acquire more than 2.5 percent stake in Jio Platforms for $2 billion. However, the deal is said to be in the early stages and many details are yet to be finalised.

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The deal will see General Atlantic acquire a 1.3 percent stake in Reliance’s telecom unit Jio.

So far, Reliance Jio has amassed investments of around $9 billion, including stakes sold to Facebook, Silver Lake and Vista Equity Partners.

The funds will also support chairman Mukesh Ambani’s vow to pay down more than $20 billion of net debt at Reliance earlier than an initial March 2021 deadline.

Earlier this month, another private equity firm Vista Equity Partners acquired a 2.3 percent stake in Jio in a deal worth $1.5 billion.

The deal makes Vista Equity Partners the largest shareholder in Reliance Jio after Reliance Industry Limited that owns 86.54 percent share in Jio, and Facebook which owns a 9.99 percent stake.

Facebook acquired its stake in Reliance Jio for about $5.7 billion last month.

According to Facebook, it will work closely with the Jio brand and provide innovative ways for businesses in India to help boost its digital economy.

The deal between Facebook and Jio will most likely see JioMart, Jio’s small business initiative, and WhatsApp coming together, to connect small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) in India.

Founder of Facebook and chief executive Mark Zuckerburg said in a statement, “India has more than 60 million small businesses and millions of people rely on them for jobs. With communities around the world in lockdown, many of these entrepreneurs need digital tools they can rely on to find and communicate with customers and grow their businesses.”

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The telecom sector in India is expanding from a network service to a data-driven support after the entry of 4G operator Reliance Jio. Jio had 168mn broadband subscribers by the end of January, Airtel had 75mn and Vodafone had 55mn, reported Economic Times.

Being in a heavily competitive industry, receiving more subscribers based on content programming is a challenge. CEO of Content and Apps, Bharti Airtel, Sameer Batra said: “The ecosystem has now become more conducive to content and these offers will be a great differentiator.”

“If we are able to lock in consumers via digital services, the propensity to stay on is very high and will also help get customers get onto 4G.”

In addition to sports, telecom operators are looking at other forms of content to retain existing users and attract new ones. Airtel offers free Amazon Prime subscriptions to users who are willing to recharge above a specified limit, Vodafone India offers free Netflix membership and Idea Cellular has signed content partnership with other providers such as Eros, Balaji and Sony Music.

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