KKR to invest Rs 5,550 crore in Reliance Retail for 1.28% stake

On Wednesday, Reliance Industries Limited and Reliance Retail Ventures Limited announced that global investment company KKR will invest Rs. 5,550 crore (US$ 754.20 million) in Reliance Retail, a Reliance Industries subsidiary.

This investment values Reliance Retail at a pre-money equity value of  ₹ 4.21 lakh crore (US$ 57.21 billion). KKR’s investment will translate into a 1.28% equity stake in RRVL on a fully diluted basis.

This is the second offer in two weeks by Reliance Retail. Private equity giant Silver Lake Partners said earlier this month that it will invest $7,500 crore (US$ 1.02 billion) in Reliance Retail for a 1.75 percent stake.

This marks KKR 's second investment in a Reliance Industries subsidiary, following a ~11,367 crore (US$ 1.54 billion) investment revealed earlier this year in Jio Platforms. Established in 1976, as of June 30, 2020, KKR has $222 billion (US4 30.17 million) in assets under control.

RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mr Mukesh Ambani said, “KKR has a proven track record of being a valuable partner to industry-leading franchises and has been committed to India for many years. We look forward to working with KKR’s global platform, industry knowledge and operational expertise across our digital services and retail businesses”.

In 2005, KKR opened the first of eight Asian offices and currently has private equity investments of approximately $5.1 billion across 15 Indian firms, including Jio Platforms, JB Chemicals, Max Healthcare, Eurokids International and Ramky Enviro Engineers.

Mr Henry Kravis, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of KKR, said, “We are pleased to deepen our relationship with Reliance Industries through this investment in Reliance Retail Ventures, which is empowering merchants of all sizes and fundamentally changing the retail experience for Indian consumers. 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.”

Morgan Stanley acted as Reliance Retail's financial advisor and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP acted as KKR's financial adviser for this contract.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.