Qatar’s Sovereign Fund interested in Acquiring a share in Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ventures
Ten News Network
Mumbai, 26th July 2023: Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, is allegedly in talks to acquire a share in Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries retail subsidiary, Reliance Retail Ventures. This comes as Gulf funds increase their bets on the rapidly expanding Indian market.
According to a Financial Times story, QIA is considering acquiring a minority share in Reliance Retail Ventures. According to the story, which quoted insiders, the investment will most likely be $1 billion, equating to a 1% ownership. This puts the company’s worth at $100 billion.
The agreement has yet to be finalised, and the contract is susceptible to modification, according to the report, which also indicated that the Qatari fund has not yet accepted the deal.
From luxury apparel to groceries, Reliance Retail is diversifying its consumer industries. Mukesh Ambani’s daughter, Isha Ambani, leads the retail firm, which is aggressively investing in expansion. The retail industry has recently bought a number of brands in order to diversify its products.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund invested $1.3 billion in Reliance Retail in 2020, for a 2.04% stake. According to the report, the corporation was then valued at $62.4 billion. KKR and two Abu Dhabi government investment funds are also shareholders in the company.
Meanwhile, Reliance Retail increased its net profit by 19% in the April-June period. Its net profit for the quarter was Rs 2,448 crore, up 19% from Rs 2,061 crore in the same quarter last year. RRL is owned by RIL’s subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL).
RRL’s operating revenue increased by 20.5 percent year on year (YoY) to Rs 62,159 crore. While profits before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) from operations increased by 25.6 percent to Rs 4,896 crore from Rs 3,897 crore in the April-June 2022 quarter, its EBITDA margin improved by 30 basis points year on year to 7.9 percent.
