BENGALURU: Indian oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries is offering to sell a roughly $20 billion stake in its retail arm to Amazon.com Inc, BloombergQuint reported on Thursday, citing Bloomberg News.
The report, citing one unnamed person with knowledge of the matter, added that billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance is willing to sell an up to 40% stake in the retail business to Amazon.
Shares in Reliance were up 6.2% in midday trading in Mumbai after hitting a record intraday high. The company earlier on Thursday became the first listed Indian firm to cross $200 billion in market capitalisation.
Amazon has held talks about investing in Reliance Retail and expressed interest in negotiating potential deals, according to the report.
The news follows a $1 billion investment announced Wednesday by Silver Lake Partners in Reliance Retail, which runs more than 10,000 stores selling apparel, groceries and electronics across India.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reliance did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Asia’s richest man, Ambani is turning his focus toward retail after successfully building India’s top telecom network by customers in less than four years, hoping to take a dominant position as India’s huge consumer market comes of age.
Amazon has held talks about investing in Reliance Retail and expressed interest in negotiating potential deals but has made no decision, Bloomberg’s report said.
Reliance Retail, with close to 12,000 stores selling a wide range of products, acquired rival Future Group’s retail arm last month and on Wednesday announced a $1 billion investment from Silver Lake Partners.
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The report, citing one unnamed person with knowledge of the matter, added that billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance is willing to sell an up to 40% stake in the retail business to Amazon.
Shares in Reliance were up 6.2% in midday trading in Mumbai after hitting a record intraday high. The company earlier on Thursday became the first listed Indian firm to cross $200 billion in market capitalisation.
Amazon has held talks about investing in Reliance Retail and expressed interest in negotiating potential deals, according to the report.
The news follows a $1 billion investment announced Wednesday by Silver Lake Partners in Reliance Retail, which runs more than 10,000 stores selling apparel, groceries and electronics across India.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reliance did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Asia’s richest man, Ambani is turning his focus toward retail after successfully building India’s top telecom network by customers in less than four years, hoping to take a dominant position as India’s huge consumer market comes of age.
Amazon has held talks about investing in Reliance Retail and expressed interest in negotiating potential deals but has made no decision, Bloomberg’s report said.
Reliance Retail, with close to 12,000 stores selling a wide range of products, acquired rival Future Group’s retail arm last month and on Wednesday announced a $1 billion investment from Silver Lake Partners.
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