1% buyout deal takes RelRetail’s valuation to $100bn
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New Delhi: Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is in early discussions to buy a minority stake in billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s rapidly expanding retail unit for about $1 billion (Rs8,200 crore), sources said. The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is keen on tapping the fast-growing Indian market and has entered into a discussion to buy about one per cent stake in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Talks, sources said, are at a preliminary stage and being led by an executive director on the board of parent Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). If successful, QIA would follow the footsteps of sovereign wealth funds of other oil-rich Gulf nations, which picked up stake in Reliance Retail Ventures in 2020. While Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) invested $1.3 billion for a 2.04 per cent stake in Reliance Retail Ventures, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) put in Rs5,513 crore for a 1.2 per cent stake.
The UAE’s Mubadala invested Rs6,248 crore for a 1.4 per cent stake. The three were part of an array of global investors who poured in Rs47,265 crore in a span of two months to buy 10.09 per cent in Reliance Retail. Others include New York-based private equity firm KKR, Silver Lake Partners, General Atlantic, GIC and TPG.