Jio Platforms may offload another 8% stake | Economic Times

Kolkata: Reliance Jio Infocomm’s parent Jio Platforms could potentially offload another 8 per cent stake to strategic financial investors on the heels of recent deals with US private equity (PE) firm Silver Lake and social media giant Facebook, analysts said.Another mega stake sale along the lines of the recent $5.7-billion deal with Facebook would bolster Jio’s balance sheet, reduce its dependence on an initial public offer (IPO) for future cash infusions and give it a first-mover advantage over rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea in aggressively buying 5G airwaves in the next sale, analysts said. “We see room for further 8 per cent stake sale in line with (Reliance Industries) management commentary (timing unknown),” said brokerage BofA Securities in a note. Any incremental cash coming into Jio would boost the telco’s balance sheet and help it renew its 850 MHz airwave holdings and also buy 5G spectrum, BofA Securities said. “We see room for Jio to have first mover advantage in 5G,” BofA added.75566776Shares of RIL closed 1.8 per cent higher at Rs 1,461 Tuesday on BSE.Analysts, though, said Jio’s success as a digital company would hinge on its app ecosystem gaining traction and monetisation of its cluster of over 25 apps, noting that MyJio App could emerge as a Super app to consumer services that Jio ventures to provide.