Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fun announced Thursday that it had acquired 2.04 percent of India’s Reliance Retail Ventures Limited for total investment of $1.3 billion.
Reliance Retail Ventures is the retail arm of the oil-to-telecoms Indian conglomerate Reliance, and has been looking for investors over the past couple of months. The investment follows a similar acquisition of a 2.32 percent stake in Jio Platforms, Reliance’s digital services subsidiary, by the PIF in June.
“We are pleased to be furthering our trusted partnership with Reliance Industries, the leading player in some of India’s most exciting sectors. This transaction demonstrates PIF’s commitment to investing and partnering for the long-term with innovative businesses around the world that lead and transform their sectors,” Yasir al-Rumayyan, governer of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and chairman of Saudi Aramco said in a statement seen by Al Arabiya English.
The PIF is the centerpiece of Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious Vision 2030 program that seeks to change the fund into a giant investment vehicle to support the Kingdom’s economic diversification away from oil by investing in exciting new industries around the world.
“This investment further demonstrates PIF’s commitment to generating returns for the Saudi people and driving the economic diversification of Saudi Arabia,” al-Rumayyan added.
Reliance, controlled by Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, has been looking for investors as it seeks to expand its business online to take on its competitors, including Walmart’s Flipkart and Amazon’s Indian arm, Reuters had previously reported.
“We at Reliance have a long-standing relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. PIF is at the forefront of the economic transformation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I welcome PIF as a valued partner in Reliance Retail,” Ambani said in the statement.
