Global investment firm KKR & Co. will invest an additional 20.69 billion rupees ($249.19 million) in Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s rapidly expanding retail unit that rivals global competitors including Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. in the world’s most populous nation.
(Bloomberg) — Global investment firm KKR & Co. will invest an additional 20.69 billion rupees ($249.19 million) in Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s rapidly expanding retail unit that rivals global competitors including Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. in the world’s most populous nation.
KKR’s follow-on investment will take its total equity stake to 1.42% in in Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. on a fully-diluted basis, the Mumbai-based firm said in an exchange filing Monday. In 2020, KKR had invested 55.50 billion rupees in the retail unit.
The deal comes after Ambani told shareholders last month that several global investors were keen to buy into the country’s biggest brick-and-mortar retailer looking to further deepen its operations in India. The venture headed by Ambani’s daughter, Isha, has undertaken a series of acquisitions as it takes on global firms trying hard to establish themselves in India’s highly competitive retail sector.
Reliance’s retail arm and financial services have emerged as new pillars of Ambani’s business empire, which has transformed from an oil and chemical giant to an increasingly consumer-facing conglomerate cashing in on India’s burgeoning middle class.
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In addition to consolidating India’s highly fragmented retail landscape dominated by mom-and-pop stores, Reliance has also projected itself as the partner of choice for international brands ranging from 7-Eleven convenience stores to fast fashion giant Shein.
The Qatar Investment Authority last month invested 82.78 billion rupees in Reliance Retail, picking up a stake of 0.99% in billionaire’s retail unit.
This investment values Reliance Retail Ventures at a pre-money equity value of 8.3 trillion rupees, the company said. That compares with a previous fund-raise value of 4.21 trillion rupees in 2020.
(Updated throughout)
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