Jio and WhatsApp will join 3 crore small grocery shoppers
Facebook has announced an investment of $ 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) in Jio. Facebook will connect Reliance Jio’s 9.99 per cent stake to 3 crore small grocery shoppers on the Geomart platform and it will become WhatsApp. This will accelerate Reliance Retail’s new commerce business. There will be a deal to increase retail business on the JioMart platform. This will support small businesses on WhatsApp. Jio Platforms is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), which provides a wide range of digital services. Its number of customers is more than 38.8 crore.
According to Reliance, small grocery businesses will get the benefit of partnership with JioMart. Explain that this is the largest investment under FDI in the technology sector in India. Facebook and WhattsApp are used in large parts of India. Also, India is currently undergoing a major digital transformation and Jio is currently helping ease business for crores of Indian and small businessmen.
Deal between Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail Limited and WhatsApp
RIL said a commercial partnership agreement was also signed between Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail Limited and WhatsApp with this investment. Under this, the use of WhatsApp will boost Reliance Retail’s new commercial business on the Geomart platform and support small businesses on WhatsApp. Geomart helps traditional shoppers and grocery stores reach customers. RIL said regulatory and other approvals are yet to be received for the deal. Morgan Stanley served as financial advisor for the deal, and AZB & Partners and Davis Polk & Wardwell served as legal advisors.
After this deal, Mark Zuckerberg says this is especially important right now, because small businesses are important to every economy and they need help. There are more than 60 million small businesses in India and millions of people depend on them for jobs.
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The major reason behind this deal
The deal was signed with Facebook as part of RIL’s efforts to reduce its debt. For this, RIL is looking for strategic partnerships in its businesses. The group is also in talks with Saudi Aramco to sell a 20 percent stake in its oil-chemicals business. The group has set a target of becoming debt free by next year. Google was also being negotiated for a stake in Jio, but the outcome of those conversations is not known at the moment. The latest deal is beneficial for both Jio and Facebook as India is the second largest internet market in the world after China.
