RIL Gains 3% On Saudi PIF Deal For Its Retail Arm

On Friday, shares of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) rose as much as 2.9 percent to Rs 2,013.50 becoming the top gainer on Nifty 50 in the morning session.

The gain in stock price comes after the conglomerate announced on the previous day that Saudi Arabia's sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF) is investing Rs 9,555 crore ($1.3 billion) for a 2.04 percent stake in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL).

"This investment values RRVL at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.587 lakh crore (approximately $62.4 billion)," RIL said in a statement.

PIF had earlier acquired 2.32 percent stake in Jio Platforms, the digital services subsidiary of Reliance Industries.

The high profile global fund is the latest investor in RRVL, taking the number of international funds to add capital into the Reliance holding company to nine with their cumulative foreign investment being Rs 47,265 crore for a collectively stake of 10.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has directed RIL to pay Rs 447.27 crore, along with 12 percent interest, while dismissing an appeal filed by the company against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The penalty is with regard to the 2017 event where SEBI had barred the conglomerate and 12 other entities from dealing in equity derivatives in the futures and options segment for a period of one year, directly or indirectly, for allegedly indulging in fraudulent trades in Reliance Petroleum NSE Ltd (RPL) in 2007.