Oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries said on Saturday Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and global private equity firm TPG Capital invested a combined Rs. 7,350 crore in its retail unit. Reliance, controlled by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, has secured more than $2 billion (roughly Rs. 14,600 crores) in investments from global investors, including KKR, Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala and Silver Lake Partners, in Reliance Retail Ventures over the past few months.
GIC will invest Rs. 5,512 crore for a 1.22 percent stake, while TPG Capital Management will invest Rs. 1,838 crore to own a 0.41 percent equity stake in the retail arm, the company said. The investments in Reliance Retail values the company at a pre-money equity value of Rs. 4,285 lakh crore, Reliance said.
This is TPG Capital’s second investment in Reliance. In June, the firm invested $598 million (roughly Rs. 4,384 crores) in Reliance’s digital unit Jio Platforms.
Mumbai-headquartered Reliance has approached investors in Jio Platforms about buying stakes in its retail arm, Reuters had reported in September.
Reliance, already India’s biggest retailer with roughly 12,000 stores, forged a $3.38 billion (roughly Rs. 24.783 crores) deal in August to acquire rival Future Group’s retail business.
The conglomerate is also expanding its so-called new commerce venture, which ties neighborhood stores to Reliance for online deliveries of groceries, apparel and electronics in a space currently dominated by Walmart’s Flipkart and Amazon’s Indian arm.
© Thomson Reuters 2020
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