RIL may sell 1% in retail arm to Qatar fund for $1bn: Report

Mumbai/New Delhi: Reliance Industries (RIL) is looking to raise $1 billion by selling a 1% stake in its retail unit to Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, the Financial Times reported.Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is seeking to invest in Reliance Retail’s holding company Reliance Retail Ventures (RRV). The talks for the investment come as RIL restructures the share capital of Reliance Retail, which houses Reliance Digital chain, Reliance Jewels stores and online shopping platform JioMart.On the reported fund-raise, a Reliance Retail spokesperson said, “The company evaluates various opportunities on an ongoing basis.”QIA has exposure to the Indian conglomerate as it holds a stake in RIL’s media and entertainment business through Bodhi Tree Systems. In 2020, RIL raised $6.4 billion (Rs 47,265 crore) from foreign investors by selling a nearly 10.1% stake in RRV. The deal valued RRV at $57 billion (Rs 4.2 lakh crore).Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, US’s Silver Lake, KKR and General Atlantic are some of the external investors in RIL’s retail unit, which posted a record operating profit of Rs 5,151 crore in Q1FY24.AllianceBernstein estimated in May that RIL’s retail venture was worth as much as $131 billion, a valuation that would give QIA a 0.7% stake for a $1-billion investment, Financial Times reported. However, analysts at Ambit Capital and JM Financial have valued the retail unit much lower. Ambit estimated the retail business to be $57 billion and JM Financial at $100 billion.