On Wednesday Facebook the world's social networking giant buys 10% stake in the nations largest telecom service provider Reliance Jio for $5.7 billion and becomes the largest minority stakeholder. This deal became the biggest deal of the US-based social network giant Facebook after 2014 when it purchased WhatsApp for $ 16 million and this deal also values Reliance Jio platform enterprise for $ 66 billion.
The chairman and managing director Mukes Ambani said: " This deal is a great catalyst to make India world's largest digital society". He also added: "The combined power of Jio’s world-class digital connectivity platform and Facebook’s intimate relationship with the Indian people will offer innovative new solutions to each one of you. Very shortly JioMart – Jio’s digital new commerce platform - and WhatsApp will empower nearly three crores small Indian Kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood." This deal will also bring Jio mart an e-commerce venture of Reliance Jio and WhatsApp together which will enable Indians to buy and pay groceries online from local grocery shops.
After this deal, Mukesh Ambani reclaims the title of Asia's richest man as Reliance Industries shares jump to 10% beating Alibaba group co-founder and former executive chairman Jack Ma. This deal will allow Facebook to expand its domain in the Indian sub-continents and redefine online payment system.
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Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg shortly after the deal released a video on Facebook and said: "This investment underscores our commitment to India and our excitement for the dramatic transformation that Jio has spurred in the country. Our goal is to enable new opportunities for businesses of all sizes, but especially for the more than 60 million small businesses across India."
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The major focus of the deal is to empower small and medium-size business in India and provide new and innovative ways to enrich the digital economy.
