SLT catches eye of Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio Platforms

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has caught the eye of India’s Reliance Industries, with its telecom arm Jio Platforms having expressed interest in procuring a stake in the island nation’s stressed state-owned 
telecom entity.
At the end of last week, the Sri Lankan government shared that Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio Platforms is among the three companies that have put forward their interest to bid for SLT.
The other two entities are Gortune International Investment Holding Ltd and Pettigo Comercio International LDA.
The Finance Ministry in a statement said the proposals would be evaluated as per the Special Guidelines on Divestiture of State-Owned Enterprises,

approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Last week, Fitch Ratings announced it has maintained SLT’s ‘A(lka)’ National Long-Term Rating on Rating Watch Positive (RWP).
The RWP reflects the potential rating upside from the removal of linkages with SLT’s parent, the Sri Lankan government (Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR): CCC-), as the government is in the process of selling its 50.2 percent stake in the company.
The rating agency pointed out that SLT’s rating would no longer be dragged by the state ownership, following the sale. 
Fitch said it would resolve the RWP when the proposed disposal becomes practically unconditional, which may take longer than six months, based on the government’s 2Q24 target date for the definitive agreements.
A report by TechCrunch shared that Bank of America has valued Mukesh Ambani’s telecoms and digital conglomerate Jio Platforms over Rs.890033 crore. The new valuation is around 64 percent higher than what Jio Platforms had in 2020, when it secured funds from giants like Meta, Google and others.