SoftBank, Carlyle in queue to acquire stake in Reliance Retail: Reports

Reliance Industries Ltd’s investor demand has become so strong that now Softbank Group Corp. and Carlyle Group Inc. are among those that had to be put on to a waiting list for investing in Reliance retail stake.

People familiar to the matter said that Carlyle and Softbank have recently expressed interest in investing in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. Reliance Industries has asked the two companies to wait on the sideline since the company is already in advanced talks with other financial investors.

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Reliance Industries plans to sell about 10% stake in Reliance Retail to financial investors and shares worth $5.7 billion have been taken up. The company has already secured $20 billion in recent months. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadla Investment Co is also weighing in an investment of $750 million in Reliance Retail.

The largest allocation has been reserved for Amazon.com.Inc. Reports stated that Mukesh Ambani is offering a roughly $20 billion stake to Amazon which would be equivalent to a 40% holding.

The people mentioned above said that potential investor like SoftBank and Carlyle could still get Reliance Retail shares if others cut their commitments.