Reliance Industries Ltd. has received yet another infusion of funds, this time from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF).
For a sum of Rs. 9,555 crore or US $ 1.3 billion, Saudi’s fund will acquire a 2.04 per cent stake in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL). This is their largest investment thus far, surpassing Silver Lake’s September investment of Rs. 7,500 crore for a 1.75 per cent stake in RRVL.
With this, the Saudi company becomes the latest and the ninth international firm vying for a piece of RRVL.
So far, these companies have picked up a shared total of 10.5 per cent stake for Rs. 47,265 crore.
Economic Times had reported earlier in September that RIL is looking to sell a 15 per cent stake in Reliance Retail for Rs. 60,000-63,000 and the conglomerate had offered the deal to all companies that had earlier invested in Jio Platforms.
PIF was one of the companies to buy stake (2.32 per cent) in the telecom service provider.
Commenting on the deal, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and MD of RIL, said “I welcome PIF as a valued partner in Reliance Retail and look forward to their sustained support and guidance as we continue our ambitious journey to transform India’s retail sector for enriching the lives of 1.3 billion Indians and millions of small merchants.”
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of PIF, averred “We are pleased to be furthering our trusted partnership with Reliance Industries, the leading player in some of India’s most exciting sectors. This transaction demonstrates PIF’s commitment to investing and partnering for the long-term with innovative businesses around the world that lead and transform their sectors.”
The Saudi PIF is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world and acts as the primary investment arm for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, aimed at generating long-term value in line with Vision 2030.
Since September, a bevy of global funds from Middle East to the US including Silver Lake, Mubadala, General Atlantic, KKR, Singapore’s GIC and TPG have already announced investing billions of dollars into Reliance Retail.
