Reliance Offers Amazon 40% Stake in Retail Arm, Says Report; If Finalised, $20 Billion Deal to be 'Biggest Ever in India'
Amazon and Reliance are in the early phases of negotiating a $20 billion investment deal in RIL's retail arm, said credible sources linked to Bloomberg. If finalised, the quantum of deal would amount of 40 percent of the total stakes in Reliance Retail.
Mumbai, September 10: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), which has drawn a spree of investments over the past six months, may now end up sealing a deal with Amazon Inc. The Mukesh Ambani-led company is reportedly in talks to handover 40 percent stakes in Reliance Retail Ventures to the company headed by his business rival, Jeff Bezos. Reliance Industries Ltd Becomes India's First Company to Cross $200 Billion Market Cap; Check List of World's Top 5 Firms With Highest M-Cap Value.
Amazon and Reliance are in the early phases of negotiating a $20 billion investment deal in RIL's retail arm, said credible sources linked to Bloomberg. If finalised, the quantum of deal would amount to 40 percent of the total stakes in Reliance Retail.
The deal, if it goes through, would also be the "biggest ever" commercial pact in India. For Amazon as well, this would be the highest amount ever invested into a company, reports said.
The Reliance-Amazon deal would also turn two of the richest individuals on the planet - Ambani and Bezos - from business rival into partners. The pact will allow Amazon to gain a stronger share in the Indian market, where the online customers forms only a miniscule portion of the $1 trillion retail market.
The news of Reliance-Amazon negotiations led to a surge in RIL shares on Thursday. The stock surged by 4.2 percent as of 12:08 pm, whereas, the Indian rupee turned stronger against the US dollar by 0.5 INR.
The report also came on a day when RIL became the first Indian company to cross the market cap value of $200 billion. The success was achieved after the California-based Silver Lake announced an investment of Rs 7,500 crore in Reliance Retail, in lieu of 1.75 percent of the venture's stake.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2020 01:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).