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Reliance Industries Gains Over 2% On Future Group Acquisition

Reliance Industries Limited: The company had become net debt-free in June this year.
Reliance Industries Limited: The company had become net debt-free in June this year.

Reliance Industries (RIL) shares gained more than 2 per cent after Reliance Industries on Saturday announced the acquisition of the retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing businesses of the Future Group for Rs 24,713 crore through its subsidiary, Reliance Retail Ventures. The shares of Reliance Industries opened at the day's high of Rs 2,172, up 2.6 per cent on the BSE. At 9:32 am, the shares of Reliance Industries were trading at Rs 2,145, up 1.39 per cent on the BSE.

Future Retail owns BigBazaar, which sells everything from groceries to cosmetics and apparel, Future Lifestyle Fashions operates bargain clothing chain Brand Factory. Upmarket food stores Foodhall is also a part of the Future Retail.

While the logistics and warehousing units of Future Group will be transferred to Reliance Retail Ventures, the retail and wholesale businesses will be part of its wholly-owned arm, Reliance Retail and Fashion Lifestyle.

"With this transaction, we are pleased to provide a home to the renowned formats and brands of Future Group as well as preserve its business ecosystem, which have played an important role in the evolution of modern retail in India," Isha Ambani, director, Reliance Retail Ventures said.

Reliance Retail Ventures is part of conglomerate Reliance Industries, which became net debt-free in June, months ahead of its goal of March 2021.

Reliance Industries has been diversifying its business and ramping up a retail presence. It launched an online grocery service JioMart in May, a move rivalling Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart in India.

The BSE Sensex was trading at 39,887.19, higher by 412.32 points and the NSE Nifty was at 11,759.73, up 112.85 points or 0.94 per cent at the time.