General Atlantic to invest $498.31 million in Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail

India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. informed on September 30, 2020, that a private equity firm General Atlantic is all set to invest Rs. 36.75 billion in Reliance Retail Ventures, for a 0.84% stake in its retail arm. The latest investment will send the shares of India’s most valuable company up as much as 1%.

The new deal with a private equity firm will underscore the growing investor interest in the Ambani-led company’s expansion plans as it aims at diversifying from its main oil and gas business.

With the growing investments earlier in Reliance led Jio and now in Reliance Retail, the company can be seen as a formidable rival to Amazon Inc. and Walmart Inc’s Flipkart as they continue to battle for the market dominance in India.

Mukesh Ambani on the latest investment:

With the latest investment from General Atlantic, which also invested in Slack, Airbnb, and Uber- Reliance has raised around $2.3 billion for its retail arm. The investment gives Reliance Retail a pre-money valuation of Rs. 4.29 trillion.

Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani while commenting on the investment by General Atlantic stated that Reliance will leverage from General Atlantic’s extensive expertise at the intersection of consumer business and technology to expand its new commerce venture, trying neighbourhood stores for apparel, online deliveries of groceries and electronics. In May, Reliance launched an online grocery store.

Expected investments in Reliance retail:

General Atlantic is also an investor Reliance’s digital business Jio platforms and as per the sources, Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment Co is also in the advanced talks to invest up to $1 billion in the retail unit of Reliance.