RIL Becomes First Indian Company To Cross $200 Billion Market Cap

On Thursday, shares of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) rose over 8 percent to hit a new all-time high of Rs 2,344.95 after a Bloomberg report citing sources said that the company is offering to sell roughly a $20 billion stake in its retail business to Amazon.

RIL is now the first Indian company to hit a market cap of $200 billion. In rupees, its market valuation crossed Rs 15.25 lakh crore on Thursday, the highest for any company listed in an Indian stock exchange. TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) at Rs 8.8 lakh crore is the second largest.

According to the report, Amazon has held discussions about on a potential deal to invest in Reliance Retail and RIL is willing to sell as much as 40 percent stake in the subsidiary to the e-commerce giant.

On Wednesday, RIL in a stock exchange filing said that Silver Lake will invest Rs 7,500 crore into Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries.

"This investment values RRVL at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.21 lakh crore. Silver Lake's investment will translate into a 1.75% equity stake in RRVL on a fully diluted basis," the statement added.

It is the second billion-dollar investment by the American private equity firm in a RIL subsidiary after the $1.35 billion investment in Jio Platforms announced earlier this year.

Last week, the Financial Times citing two senior industry executives said that the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate is looking to raise funds by selling minority stakes in Reliance Retail and is in discussion with several investors.

Further, on Wednesday, a Bloomberg report said that KKR is in advanced talks to invest at least $1 billion in the retail business.

Motilal Oswal gave RIL a buy rating with a target price of Rs 2,250.

Citi has a 'Neutral' rating maintained with a price target of Rs 2,250. It said that while announcements on further stake sales in retail may keep news flow supportive, the focus is likely to shift to execution.