Jio Internet Distribution Holdings Pvt. Ltd and Jio Television Distribution Holdings Pvt. Ltd- two subsidiaries of Reliance Infocomm limited are seeking to raise ₹2000 crore capital through rights issue. The people close to the developments said, the two companies will be issuing 1 million optionally convertible preference shares for this. The dividend rate is fixed at 6%.
The funds are being raised to meet general corporate expenses and for meeting the future investment needs.
Last year, Reliance Jio demerged its business into 6 subsidiaries for segregating its telecom and content business. In 2018, Jio took decision of monetizing its tower and fiber assets though Infrastructure investment trust(InvIT) route to cut its debt. This would help Jio, making it an asset light digital company and consequently reducing its liabilities.
According to some people close to the developments, Brookfiled Asset Management is in talks with Mukesh Amabni led Reliance Jio for acquiring its telecom assets.
“Brookfield has been looking at acquiring a telecom tower business for a long time. It is like an annuity business. Besides, the telecom market is good. In RIL or Jio, Brookfield sees a great anchor tenant,” as per a person close to the deal between Reliance and Brookfield.
Speculations are that a $15 billion between Reliance Jio and Brookfield is likely to happen in the coming few months for Jio’s fiber and tower assets.