Mukesh Ambani bags 9th cheque for Reliance Retail; Saudi Arabia’s PIF to invest Rs 9,555 crore

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), today announced that The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia will invest Rs 9,555 crore in the company for an equity stake of 2.04%. This will be the second such investment by The Public Investment Fund (PIF) in a subsidiary of RIL this year. The investment values RRVL at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.587 lakh crore. Other investments into RRVL, so far this year, have come in at an equity value of Rs 4.28 lakh crore. 

The retail unit of Mukesh Ambani’s RIL empire has so far sold 8.22% equity stake to eight other investors, excluding PIF, for Rs 37,710 crore. PIF had earlier this year invested Rs 11,400 crore in the digital services arm of RIL, Jio Platforms for a 2.32% equity stake. “We at Reliance have a long-standing relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. PIF is at the forefront of the economic transformation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 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,” said Mukesh Ambani in a statement.

Reliance Retail is the holding company for all of RIL’s retail assets and is fastest-growing retailers globally between FY2013- 2018, according to Deloitte’s Global Powers of Retailing 2020 index. In the second quarter of this fiscal RRVL’s revenue from operations stood at Rs 36,566 crore. India’s retail industry is growing at a rapid pace and with recent mergers and stake sales, Mukesh Ambani is looking to capitalise on that growth. RRVL operates India’s largest, fast-growing retail business serving close to 640 million footfalls at its ~12,000 stores across the country. 

Some of the marquee investors that have so far bought a stake in RRVL include, Silver Lake Holdings, KKR, General Atlantic, Mubadala, GIC, TPG, and ADIA. RIL’s shares closed at 2.18% higher on Thursday at Rs 1,955 per share.