Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), the oil-to-telecommunications conglomerate led by Mukesh Ambani, is offering to sell roughly $ 20 billion in equity in its retail arm, Reliance Retail, to Amazon. BloombergQuint reported Thursday, citing Bloomberg News. Amazon has held discussions about investing in Reliance Retail and has expressed interest in negotiating potential deals, according to the report.
RIL shares were up 4 percent in midday trading on the BSE. The company had become the first publicly traded Indian company to exceed $ 200 billion in market capitalization.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. “We want to reiterate that, as a policy, we do not comment on media speculation and rumors and we cannot confirm or deny any transactions that may or may not be in process. Our company assesses various opportunities on an ongoing basis. Made and will continue to make the necessary disclosures on meeting our obligations, “said a Reliance statement.
The report comes a day after RIL announced that US private equity firm Silver Lake Partners would buy a 1.75 percent stake in Reliance Retail for Rs 7.5 billion. KKR was also reported to be in advanced talks to invest at least $ 1 billion in the company.
In another report of probable investment in Reliance Retail, West Asian sovereign wealth funds, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), are said to be in talks to buy stakes. in the company, according to Financial times.
ADIA is reported to be in talks to invest around $ 750 million at a valuation of approximately $ 57 billion, while PIF could funnel up to $ 1.5 billion into Reliance Retail.
The reported deals and potential investments follow Reliance Retail’s acquisition of Future Retail’s grocery and clothing business for Rs 24,713 crore to expand its market share. The acquisition is estimated to bring its market share to 38 percent of organized grocery retail from 22 percent previously.
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