The retail arm of Reliance industries after its acquisition of Future Group may get an investment of $1 billion from private equity firm Silver Lake. The investment, which would increase Reliance Retail’s valuation to about $57 billion, comes as the company is aiming to sell about 10 percent in new shares, as per a Financial Times report. The oil-to-telecoms conglomerate controlled by Mukesh Ambani is pitching its retail business as a formidable force in the India, expanding rapidly to attract potential investors.
The company has raised more than $20 billion from global investors including Facebook Inc
by selling stakes in its Jio Platforms digital business and has said it aims to attract investors to Reliance Retail over the next few quarters. In late August, Reliance said it would acquire the retail and logistics businesses of India's Future Group in a deal valued at $3.38 billion, including debt.
Reliance Retail after its recent deal with Future group will have control over 53 million square feet of retail space and 18 million sq ft of warehousing space. This is higher than Tesco, world's third-largest retailer, which has 50.1 million sq ft of selling space in the UK, its home market. Reliance Retail's real estate inventory after the completion of the deal will even be bigger than all the malls in India's top eight cities, Economic Times mentioned in a report.
Silver Lake in May had invested about $746.8 million in Jio Platforms for about 1.15 percent stake in the Indian telecom network, giving it a valuation of $65 billion. The Menlo Park-headquartered PE firm, which has approximately $40 billion in combined assets and committed capital, has invested in dozens of tech firms over the years including in video game engine maker Unity, audio and video communication service Skype, consultancy firm Gartner, Alibaba’s Ant Financial, computer giant Dell, and Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing. (Source: Reuters, TechCrunch, Times Now)
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