RIL’S investment arm plans to raise ₹4,000 cr to fund Jio, group firms

MUMBAI: Reliance Industrial Investments Holdings Ltd (RIIHL), the investment arm of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), is planning to raise ₹4,000 crore to meet the group’s funding and investment requirements, including for its telecom venture Reliance Jio, two people aware of the development said.

“The funds will be raised through optionally convertible preference shares at a dividend rate of 6%,” said one of the people cited above, requesting anonymity.

“RIIHL is RIL’S vehicle to invest in a various subsidiaries, give them loan as well as buy stakes in various ventures to strengthen offerings of its telecom arm Jio. Part of the funds raised could go towards funding more such ventures for Jio,” said the second person, on the condition of anonymity.

In the past five months, RIL, along with its subsidiaries, including Reliance Industrial Investments Holdings, has acquired stakes in various ventures—the Indian Film Combine, Eros International, Saavn, Embibe and Karexpert Technologies.

In February, RIL had acquired a 65% stake in Indian Film Combine Pvt. Ltd, which is building a drive-in theatre, hotel, retail mall and club on a 12-acre plot at Mumbai’s Bandra-kurla Complex for ₹1,105 crore. The deal was struck through Reliance Industrial Investments Holdings.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, which is planning to set up a subsidiary in Estonia, will also take a loan of ₹12 crore from Reliance Industrial Investments Holdings.

To strengthen its JiohealthHub app, RIIHL had invested ₹10 crore in Gurugram-based Karexpert Technologies Pvt. Ltd, an early-stage digital healthcare technology platform, last month.