Reliance Jio and Investors Hit a Roadblock in Negotiation for Fibre Asset Monetisation

With the telecom industry currently in a financial rut, the telecom operators are searching for various avenues of fundraising. The Mukesh Ambani led telecom operator, which is the top telecom operator in the industry is also no exception to this. The company has been looking towards the monetisation of its fibre assets, but according to a new ET report, the fibre asset monetisation plans for Reliance Jio could have hit a new hurdle. Some of the major wealth management firms and big financial investors were in talks with the telco for getting a controlling stake in InVIT — Jio Digital Fibre. The investors which were in talks with Reliance Jio included Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Squared Capital, and GIC of Singapore. As per the report on the matter, the talks with three of these investors have hit a snag. On the matter of monetisation, the three companies were acting as a loose alliance. There was also news of GIC joining Brookfield as the co-investor in Jio’s tower firm.

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Investors Not in Favour of Terms Being Offered by Reliance Jio

Along with the said investors, the family office of Mukesh Ambani was also said to co-invest to show his commitment towards the business. Now, the task for Reliance Jio is to find new investors or to tweak the terms. As per the officials aware of the matter, no term sheet has been signed between the parties. However, the talks can resume between the parties if the terms are favourable for both. It is worth noting that Reliance Jio has already divested its share in the tower company, and its efforts to do the same with the fibre assets were part of a plan under which it was to monetise both of these. Reliance Jio has announced that it wants to be debt-free in the next 18 months and these two asset monetisation plans are crucial for that to happen.