The rainmaker behind Mukesh Ambani’s $13 billion deal spree

He has no flashy titles and few exterior India know his title. But within the halls of Reliance Industries Ltd., Manoj Modi has quietly turn out to be one of the highly effective forces behind the company empire of Asia’s richest man.

Reserved and principally invisible to the general public, Modi is seen by many insiders and others in India’s enterprise world as the appropriate hand of billionaire Mukesh Ambani. He performed a key function throughout negotiations for a $5.7 billion take care of Facebook Inc. in April, backing Ambani and his kids as they hashed out an settlement with the social networking large, individuals acquainted with the matter stated.

As Ambani, 63, shifts his sprawling conglomerate’s focus from petrochemicals to web applied sciences, Modi is seen as a very influential voice. Facebook’s funding within the group’s Jio Platforms was adopted by related offers from a slew of private-equity funds, injecting $13 billion into the enterprise and putting it firmly on Silicon Valley’s radar.

The sixty-something, diminutive Modi — who isn’t associated to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi — not often provides interviews and there’s little within the public realm about his non-public life. Yet he illustrates how lesser recognized personalities in India with long-running ties to company dynasties can have an outsized affect.

“It’s not a company that advertises its organizational structure but the industry knows that Ambani and Modi are a strongly-bonded team — and together drive deal negotiation and relentless execution to the last level of detail,” stated Vani Kola, managing director of enterprise capital agency, Kalaari Capital Partners, who persuaded Modi to make a uncommon public look at a convention final yr, albeit by video.

A Reliance spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for feedback from the corporate and Modi.

Making Money

Modi is a director at Reliance Retail Ltd. and the group’s telecom service Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. At Kola’s convention, he downplayed his expertise. “I don’t really negotiate,” Modi stated. “I don’t understand strategy,” he went on. “In fact, people internally know that I don’t even have a vision.” He described his function, saying, “I deal with our internal people, coaching them, mentoring them and guiding them on how something can be done.”

But then got here a touch of his pondering: “Our principle at Reliance is very simple: Unless everyone makes money while working with us, you cannot have a sustainable business.”

In interviews, greater than half-a-dozen executives within the know-how trade, who’ve had dealings with Reliance, stated Modi has a status for driving exhausting bargains. When coping with startups, he usually controls negotiations from behind the scenes by instructing executives how far to push, making an look nearing deal fruition, they stated.

While Reliance’s current mega investments have drawn the highlight, the conglomerate additionally started an acquisition spree to purchase smaller companies some years in the past to construct experience in newer applied sciences from synthetic intelligence to blockchain. The thought is to create a digital enterprise that wields energy in every part from on-line retail to streamed leisure and web funds.

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Modi has an enormous say in each deal and infrequently a gathering with him indicators the ultimate stamp of approval, 4 completely different startup founders stated in interviews.

“He derives his power in the organization not just because of his loyalty, but because of his very astute, smart and able negotiator skills for Reliance Industries,” G. R. Gopinath, founding father of finances service Air Deccan, who had offered a stake in his cargo airline to Reliance in 2010. “Significantly, though without formal education from Ivy League universities, he has a very sharp mind and a rare insight and native genius to grasp modern technology in the Indian context.”

Gopinath stated Modi is “ruthlessly efficient” and manages to get the absolute best deal for Reliance in mergers and acquisitions.

Modi is likely one of the few who’ve been with the corporate because the 1980s when Ambani’s late father was constructing the oil-and-petrochemicals large. A couple of years earlier, Manoj Harjivandas Modi and Ambani had studied at what was then known as the University Department of Chemical Technology in Mumbai and turn out to be quick associates.

That’s allowed Modi an opportunity to work with three generations of the Ambani dynasty: The late patriarch Dhirubhai, then Mukesh and his spouse Nita, and now his kids Isha and Akash, who’re enjoying extra distinguished roles on offers like Facebook.

Over the years Modi grew to become often known as the execution man, overseeing massive tasks. He broke new floor by managing Reliance’s retail attain to smaller cities and expanded it to India’s largest retailer. But it was with the pathbreaking telecom service that Ambani constructed up that Modi got here into his personal.

Telecom talks

His negotiating expertise have been very seen when Reliance Jio raced to launch its wi-fi companies in 2016 and constructed its fiber optic cable community.

One of the individuals who participated within the negotiations described a scene the place choose distributors have been summoned to the headquarters for talks. The bait dangled in entrance of every was the large scale of the mission. Unknown to distributors at the moment, a number of Reliance groups negotiated concurrently in separate rooms with Modi because the interface guiding executives, that individual stated.

These days, after crushing its rivals, Jio is the most important telecom operator in India with almost 400 million customers. It’s additionally more and more necessary to world companies like Facebook and WhatsApp because it serves as an entryway into an exploding digital economic system and an e-commerce ecosystem that features funds, schooling and well being care.

“Their work in expanding access to affordable mobile broadband has been phenomenal,” Ajit Mohan, vp and managing director in India for Facebook, stated of Ambani’s firm.

Among the abilities Modi has honed is working with senior executives at Reliance, like Anshuman Thakur, head of technique at Reliance Jio Infocomm and a very long time banker, who performs a key function on offers and recurrently briefs the press.

Consumer spending

During the negotiations for the Facebook deal, Ambani, his kids Isha and Akash, and Modi have been key proper via the discussions, one of many individuals acquainted with the transaction stated. Once Ambani gave the go forward, Thakur labored to construction the deal, one of many individuals stated.

In current weeks, Jio’s investor listing has included names like KKR & Co., Silver Lake Partners, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. There could also be extra. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in superior talks for a stake, individuals acquainted with the matter stated this month.

Still, the worldwide coronavirus pandemic is poised to place India on monitor for a pointy financial contraction, which suggests Modi and Ambani could have their work lower out for them rising digital gross sales whereas client spending slows.

Meanwhile, a crash in oil costs brought on uncertainty in negotiations to promote an estimated $15 billion stake in Reliance Industries’ oil and chemical compounds division to Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Aramco, as a part of its bid to pay down its formidable debt pile, which stood at greater than $20 billion as of March final yr. Reliance lately stated the Aramco talks are progressing.

Very little is understood concerning the precise plans of Jio Platforms because the digital enterprise rolls into the subsequent section of its growth. Both Modi and his boss might have a joint hand in sustaining this degree of secrecy.

“Why talk needlessly when you can show your capabilities in the ranbhoomi,” stated Kola, the enterprise capitalist, utilizing the Hindi phrase for battlefield.