Reliance Industries (RIL) rose by 3.87 percent in trade on Friday, after the company announced an investment of Rs 9,555 crore from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) in the retail unit. The investment in Reliance Retail (RRVL) follows PIF’s earlier acquisition of a 2.32 percent stake in Jio Platforms, the digital services subsidiary of RIL.
By announcing the investment of Rs 9,555 crore to acquire 2.04% stake, the Saudi fund is making the largest investment so far in RRVL, overtaking Silver Lake’s September investment of Rs 7,500 crore when the US fund acquired a 1.75% stake in Reliance Retail.
A bevy of investors such as Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, global alternative asset firm TPG Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mubadala Investment Co, General Atlantic, KKR and Silver Lake (twice) have purchased stakes in the company, since September.
On top of that, RIL is escalating its position in the retail market as it has agreed to acquire the country’s second-largest retailer Future Group that will bring in Rs 26,000 crore in additional sales to create Rs 1.89 lakh crore ($26 billion) retail empire spread over about 14,000 brick-and-mortar stores and the combined entity will be seven times bigger in terms of revenues than its nearest rival Avenue Supermarts, that operates D’Mart. However, that acquisition is currently under clearance as Amazon has contested Future Group’s sell-off plans.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, “We at Reliance have a long-standing relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. PIF is at the forefront of the economic transformation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I welcome PIF as a valued partner in Reliance Retail and look forward to their sustained support and guidance as we continue our ambitious journey to transform India’s retail sector for enriching the lives of 1.3 billion Indians and millions of small merchants.”
