New Delhi | Jagran Business Desk: US private equity firm Silver Lake has picked up 1.75 per cent stake in the Reliance Industries Limited and Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) for Rs 7,500 crore, the Reliance Industries announced on Wednesday.
The investment by Silver Lake values RRVL at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.21 lakh crores and with this its investment will translate into a 1.75 per cent equity stake in RRVL on a fully diluted basis.
"Reliance Industries Limited and Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) announced today that Silver Lake will invest Rs 7,500 crore into RRVL, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries," the statement by RIL said.
This is the second billion-dollar investment by Silver Lake in the Reliance Industries. Earlier this year, the American equity giant had invested USD 1.35 billion in Reliance Jio Platforms.
"Reliance Retail Limited, a subsidiary of RRVL, operates India's largest, fastest growing and most profitable retail business serving close to 640 million footfalls across its about 12,000 stores nationwide," the statement said.
Commenting on the investment by Silver Lake, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, said, "I am delighted to extend our relationship with Silver Lake to our transformational efforts of building an inclusive partnership with millions of small merchants while providing value to Indian consumers across the country in the Indian retail sector," as reported by news agency ANI.
"We believe technology will be key to bringing the much-needed transformation in this sector so that various constituents of the retail ecosystem can collaborate to build inclusive growth platforms. Silver Lake will be an invaluable partner in implementing our vision for Indian Retail," he added.
Silver Lake was the first US private equity firm to invest in Jio after tech giant Facebook took a 9.99 per cent stake in the company for Rs 43,573.62 crore. Silver Lake bought 2.08 per cent in Jio in two tranches for a total of Rs 10,202.55 crore.
Moreover, commenting on the investment, Egon Durban, Co-CEO and Managing Partner of Silver Lake, said, "Mukesh Ambani and his team at Reliance have created an outstanding world leader in retail and technology through their courageous vision, commitment to societalbenefits, innovation excellence and relentless execution. The success of JioMart in such a short time span, especially while India, along with the rest of the world, battles the COVID-19 pandemic, is truly unprecedented, and the most exciting growth phase has just begun."
"Reliance's New Commerce strategy could become the disruptor of this decade. We are thrilled to have been invited to partner with Reliance in their mission for Indian Retail," Durban added.
After monetising Jio Platforms -- which houses the firm's telecom arm and digital ventures, richest Indian Mukesh Ambani is looking to rope in investors in the retail business. Reliance may be looking to sell about 10 per cent of Reliance Retail. Late last month, Reliance acquired the retail and logistics businesses of Future Group for Rs 24,713 crore to boost its retail vertical.
(With Agencies Inputs)
Posted By: Talib Khan