Reliance Jio to buy U.S.-based Mimosa Networks for $60 million

BENGALURU (Reuters) -Jio Platforms, owned by Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd, will buy communications equipment maker Mimosa Networks for $60 million to bolster its expanding 5G and broadband services, the companies said on Thursday.

The deal is between Radisys Corp, a unit of Jio Platforms, and US-based Airspan Networks Holdings, which owns Mimosa.

Mimosa has a portfolio of point-to-point and point-to-multi-point products based on WiFi 5 and the newer WiFi 6E technologies, as well as related accessories, the statement said.

The conglomerate via Jio, India's leading telecom service provider, is ramping up 5G and broadband services across the country after snapping up airwaves worth $11 billion in a 5G spectrum auction last year.

Reliance Jio Infocomm USA, a unit of Jio, is a shareholder in Airspan and has a seat on its board, according to the statement. Reliance has been making several investments in the telecom space and had chosen Nokia as a major supplier last year to expand next-generation wireless services across India.

The Mimosa deal also comes at a time when some governments, including India, have either banned or discouraged the use of China's Huawei in national networks.

The transaction is subject to certain regulatory and other customary closing conditions, as well as approval by Airspan's senior lender and is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2023, the statement said.

(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Janane Venkatraman)