Amritsar, NFAPost: American buyout firm KKR & Co will invest 55.5 billion rupees in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), in exchange for a 1.28% stake.
This investment values Reliance Retail at a pre-money equity value of 4.21 trillion rupees, RIL said in a statement today.
“I am pleased to welcome KKR as an investor in Reliance Retail Ventures as we continue our onward march to growing and transforming the Indian Retail ecosystem for the benefit of all Indians,” RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said.
This investment comes weeks after private equity firm Silver Lake Partners had said that it will invest 75 billion rupees in Reliance Retail for a 1.75% stake.
This is also the second investment by KKR in a Reliance enterprise. Earlier in May, the firm had said that it will invest 113.67 billion rupees in RIL’s digital services platform – Jio Platforms.
RIL is expanding its retail business through acquisitions and lining up a scrum of global investors to take on the likes of Amazon India and Flipkart. In end August, RIL had said that it would buy the retail and logistics businesses of Kishore Biyani’s Future Group in a deal valued at $3.38 billion, including debts.
Earlier in May the company had launched its online grocery service JioMart.
“Reliance Retail’s new commerce platform is filling an important need for both consumers and small businesses as more Indian consumers move to shopping online and the company offers tools for Kiranas to be a critical part of the value chain. We are thrilled to support Reliance Retail in its mission to become India’s leading omnichannel retailer and ultimately to build a more inclusive Indian retail economy,” KKR Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer Henry Kravis said.
