Investors have been queuing up to be a part of Reliance‘s Retail business known as Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL). The demand for grabbing a piece of the business is so high that investors have been put on hold by the company. Bloomberg recently reported in an article that people familiar with the matter have revealed that investors, Carlyle Group Inc. and SoftBank Group Corp. are companies that have been put on a waiting list.
Reliance Retail, founded in,2006, by the world’s fourth-richest man, is the largest retail chain of India. The market of the second-most populous country of the world is being predicted to grow rapidly. Reliance, with its established chain containing cash and carry wholesalers, supermarkets, neighborhood shops, as well as an enormous digital offering is on what everyone’s eyes are set to invest in.
Reliance Industries previously had acquired Future Group’s retail arm, which solidified its position in India’s organized retail market. According to Fitch Ratings, equity stake sale will further strengthen RIL‘s financial profile and competitive position beyond the proposed acquisition. They also believe that the acquisition of Future Group’s retail arm would make them invincible in the sector, especially in the grocery retail subsegment.
Both Carlyle Group Inc. and Softbank Group Corp. have shown interest to be a part of Reliance‘s Retail Venture, as the report suggests. However, the Indian oil to telecom conglomerate has said that they need to wait as they are in advanced talks with other financial investors.
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries first acquired investors for their digital subsidiary named Jio. Reliance Jio had been the main focus of Asia’s richest man for the last four years since it’s launch in 2016 and has successfully built the number one 4G network in India in terms of the user base. Now, they are turning their focus to the retail business and trying to grow.
Several Investissement firms have already dipped their hands in the business. A few weeks back, Silver Lake Partners, who $ 1.35 billion or ₹ 10,200 crores in Jio for a 2.08 percent stake of the company in two tranches earlier this year, had again invested ₹ 7,500 crores for a 1.75 equity stake in Reliance’s retail arm. Other investors of Reliance Jio, like KKR & Co. and L Catterton, are also reported to be in advanced talks with the company.
Bloomberg also reported that Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co., the company that also invested in Reliance Jio previously are also investing $ 750 million in Reliance Retail. Talks of investments from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund are reported.
Reliance, via several investments, has already brought in $ 20 billion this year. Companies like Facebook and Google have been linked to the have bought stakes in the Reliance Industry’s technological platform, Jio. Now, the retail arm of the conglomerate has offered a 40 percent stake to the American company Amazon Inc. which is estimated to be worth $ 20 billion.
Amazon is a competitor of Reliance in the online retail business. However, for a long time, they have been trying to enter the offline markets of the country, where most business happens. Now, with Reliance, they finally get an opportunity to hold hands with an already established retail chain.
Putting investors on hold shows that there are not enough pieces in the cake for everyone. Reliance Industries Ltd’s plan to sell a 10 percent stake in Reliance Retail to financial investors, which amounts to approximately $ 5.7 billion. Most of the shares have already been claimed, the media agency said to have gained knowledge of, citing an anonymous spokesperson