Asian Paints Shares Fall On Reports Of RIL's Stake Sale Plans In The Paint Maker

On Friday, shares of Asian Paints gained 2.7 percent before falling nearly one percent after a Bloomberg report said that Reliance Industries Limited is considering a stake sale in the country's largest paint maker.

Asian Paints: Quotes, News

BSE 2169.3554.65 (-2.52%)

NSE 2169.0056.8 (-2.62%)

Reliance Industries: Quotes, News

BSE 1350.8518 (-1.33%)

NSE 1350.5018.7 (-1.38%)

According to the report citing sources, RIL is in discussions with banks for a potential sale of 4.9 percent stake in Asian Paints in a series of block trades on the exchanges. The stake is worth about Rs 74.9 billion ($989 million) as per Bloomberg's report and is being considered as part of the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate's efforts to trim its debt.

RIL holds the stake through Teesta Retail Pvt.

Last month, the company said that RIL's net debt would be slashed to zero ahead of its previous target of March 2021.

On Friday, the company announced a third investor for Jio Platforms in a month's time. After Facebook Inc and Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners will invest Rs 11,367 crore in the company, valuing Jio Platforms at Rs 4.91 lakh crore

Jio Platforms has already entered into an agreement with Facebook Inc for the latter to buy 10 percent stake in the company for $5.7 billion. Private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners will also invest about $753 million in the unit

Further on 30 April, Reliance announced that it plans to raise about 53,125 crore at Rs 1,257 per share in a rights issue, the biggest ever in India.