Reliance kicks off stake sale in retail arm

Silver Lake invests ~7,500 crore at ~4.2 trillion valuation; KKR may put in about ~11,000 crore

Reliance Industries (RIL) on Wednesday said US private equity (PE) firm Silver Lake would invest ~7,500 crore in its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) for a 1.75 per cent stake, valuing the company at ~4.2 trillion. This came a day after Silver Lake had led a ~3,750-crore investment round in edtech firm Bjyu’s.

Earlier this year, Silver Lake invested ~10,202 crore in Jio Platforms, RIL’S digital services platform.

The fund infusion by Silver Lake in Reliance Retail, however, sets the stage for more stake sales by the company, including one to PE firm KKR, also an investor in Jio Platforms. KKR may put up RIL SHARES SURGE to $1.5 billion (or ~11,250 crore) in Reliance Retail as it seeks a slice of the country’s largest retailer, sources told Business Standard.

RIL had given the option to investors in Jio Platforms to consider backing Reliance Retail as it sought to unlock value, following the acquisition of Future Group’s retail assets last week, persons in the know said. Investors such as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala could be next in line.

A Reliance spokesperson, however, said it could not comment on market speculation and rumours. “Our company evaluates various opportunities on an ongoing basis. We have made and will continue to make necessary disclosures in compliance with our obligations under Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and our agreements with the stock exchanges,” the spokesperson said.

Sources said Reliance Retail could look at offloading a 2530 per cent stake to a combination of PE firms and tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and Intel.

Along with Jio, retail contributes 35 per cent to RIL’S consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda), Mukesh Ambani, RIL’S chairman, had said.