General Atlantic to invest ₹3675 crore in Reliance Retail Ventures

Global equity firm, General Atlantic will invest ₹3,675 crore into Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, for a 0.84% stake, Reliance Industries said today.

This marks the second investment by General Atlantic in a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, following a ₹ 6,598.38 crore investment in Jio Platforms announced earlier this year.

The investment values Reliance Retail at an equity value of ₹ 4.285 lakh crore.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, “Like Reliance Retail, General Atlantic believes in the fundamental ability of digital enablement to drive progress, growth, and inclusion across India and the world. We look forward to leveraging General Atlantic’s extensive expertise at the intersection of technology and consumer businesses, and two decades of experience investing in India, as we create a disruptive New Commerce platform to redefine retail in the country.”

Reliance Retail Limited, a subsidiary of RRVL, operates India's largest, fastest growing and most profitable retail business serving close to 640 million footfalls across its 12,000 stores nationwide.

On 9 September, California-based private equity fund Silver Lake, picked up 1.75% stake in RRVL for ₹7,500 crore and on 23 September, global investment firm KKR & Co. invested ₹5,550 crore into RRVL for a 1.28% equity stake.

Bill Ford, Chief Executive Officer of General Atlantic, said, “General Atlantic is thrilled to be backing Mukesh’s New Commerce mission to drive substantial positive change in the country’s retail sector, which goes hand-in-hand with his vision to enable a Digital India through the work of Jio Platforms. General Atlantic shares Reliance Industries’ foundational belief in the power of technology to foster transformative growth.”

Reliance Retail, through its New Commerce strategy, has started a transformational digitalization of small and unorganized merchants to expand its network to over 20 million of these merchants. This will enable the merchants to use technology tools and an efficient supply chain infrastructure to deliver a superior value proposition to their own customers.

The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Retail and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsels. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal counsel to General Atlantic.