Facebook sets up new subsidiary Jaadhu to acquire Jio stake

Social media giant Facebook has floated an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Jaadhu Holdings to acquire 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms, which is owned by Reliance Industries (RIL), according to a notice filed with the Competition Commission of India (CCI). 

In April, Facebook announced an investment of $5.7 billion or Rs 43,574 crore for a minority stake in the Jio Platform, at a valuation of Rs 4.62 lakh crore pre-money. Jaadhu was incorporated in March 2020 in Delaware, US. 

Jio Platforms houses all digital and technology-related entities and apps as well as RIL’s telco business Reliance Jio Infocomm.

According to the notice filed with the competition regulator, Jio will separately stitch a commercial agreement with Facebook-backed chat app WhatsApp for the recently-launched platform JioMart, which is operated by Reliance Retail (RRL).

“JioMart (a new RRL commerce marketplace which connects customers with Kirana stores and other small and micro local Indian businesses) plans to integrate certain WhatsApp services with JioMart,” the notice read.

The filing also specified that the investment by Facebook will not alter the competitive landscape in any potential relevant market. It also said that the common segments evaluated for the deal which include consumer communication applications and advertising services do not have a ‘significant horizontal overlap’ in either segment. 

Jio has managed to raise $10.37 billion from multiple investors including private equity firms KKR, General Atlantic, Vista Equity Partners and Silver Lake. According to media reports, Abu Dhabi based sovereign fund manager Mubadala Investment Co is also in talks for a potential investment in RIL.