Mark Zuckerberg just gave Asia’s richest man a sorely needed win

With the pandemic battering assets and oil nosediving, Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani needed a win to stem the investor exodus from Reliance Industries Ltd., the energy conglomerate he’s been trying to reinvent. This week, Facebook Inc. and its Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg delivered just that. The U.S. social-media giant said it will buy about 10% of Reliance’s digital assets for $5.7 billion — its biggest purchase since acquiring WhatsApp six years ago. The deal will create a formidable e-commerce force to take on Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. in India, one of the world’s most competitive internet arenas.

Months in the making, the all-cash deal involved talks since at least mid last year between trusted lieutenants of Zuckerberg and Ambani — including the billionaire’s elder son Akash — according to people familiar with the matter. Morgan Stanley led the negotiations and Akash’s twin sister, Isha, was also involved in the talks, two of the people said. With the Covid-19 health crisis and travel curbs stymying progress on an agreement, the dealmakers recently turned to video conferences and phone calls to fast-track the talks, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is confidential.