SUMMARY
The capital infusion will value the retail and digital commerce subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd at a pre-money valuation of INR 8.28 Lakh Cr
The latest fundraise will make Reliance Retail one of the top four companies in the country by equity value, it said
Reliance Retail has been on a funding spree for the last two months, and has raised INR 8,278 Cr from QIA and INR 2,069 Cr from KKR in the past two months
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is investing INR 4,966.80 Cr in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd for a 0.59% equity stake.
The capital infusion will value the retail and digital commerce subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) at a pre-money valuation of INR 8.28 Lakh Cr, making it one of the top four companies in the country by equity value, Reliance Retail said in a statement.
Commenting on the announcement, Reliance Retail’s executive director Isha Ambani said, “We are pleased to further deepen our relationship with ADIA with their continued support as an investor in Reliance Retail Ventures Limited… ADIA’s investment in RRVL is a further testament to their belief in the Indian economy and our business fundamentals, strategy and execution capabilities.”
The retail arm of the oil-to-telecom conglomerate claims to serve 267 Mn customers with an omnichannel network of more than 18,500 stores and digital commerce platforms. The company has a presence across categories such as grocery, consumer electronics, fashion and lifestyle, and pharma.
Reliance Retail has brands such as AJIO, JioMart, Netmeds, Milkbasket and Trends under its umbrella. The company also owns a minority stake in troubled quick commerce startup Dunzo.
Reliance Retail also claims that its new commerce business has digitised more than 3 Mn small and unorganised merchants across the country.
The announcement is the latest round of fundraise undertaken by the retail giant in the past few months. In September, the company said global investment major KKR was acquiring a 0.25% stake in it for INR 2,069.5 Cr.
Prior to that, Reliance Retail raised INR 8,278 Cr from Qatar Investment Authority. Both transactions were executed at a pre-money equity value of INR 8.3 Lakh Cr.
Reliance Retail posted a net profit of INR 2,448 Cr in the first quarter (Q1) of financial year 2023-24 (FY124) on an operating revenue of INR 62,159 Cr. During the quarter, digital and new commerce businesses accounted for 18% of its total revenue.
