Reliance Industries Close To All Time High On Reports Of Progress In Future Retail Deal

On Wednesday, shares of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) rose to Rs 2,196 on BSE, which is close to its all-time high of Rs 2,198.80, after news reports suggest that the conglomerate is on the last leg of its deal to acquire Future Retail, which will include the Future Group's grocery and logistics arm.

A Business Standard report citing a source said that there will be a couple of mergers among Future Group companies, including the logistics firm Future Supply Chain Solutions and Future Consumer, as part of the all-stock deal that RIL will go for.

The lenders, who have pledged on the majority of Future Group promoter Kishore Biyani's stake of 41.73 per cent in FRL and in other companies, plan to convert a part of Biyani's loans into equity so that they receive shares in Reliance Retail, the Business Standard report said.

The sale in stake is being initiated as the promoter entities of Biyani have a debt of Rs 12,778 crore as on September 2019 and were finding it difficult to service its dues.

There is also immense pressure on the Future Group after Future Retail defaulted on its interest payments of Rs 100 crore on 22 July, leading to rating firm S&P Global Ratings warning it could downgrade the retail firm to 'default' after 30 days.

The market cap of Reliance Industries surpassed Rs 14 lakh crore on Wednesday, after the surge in share prices. On the previous day, the stock surged 7.5 percent on reports that the conglomerate will acquire Chennai-based Netmeds to enter the pharma e-commerce industry.

These deals are being considered as a part of RIL's strategy to widen its revenue streams and reduce its dependence on petrochemicals business.