Reliance Industries Hits Life-Time High On Clean Energy Acquisitions

Reliance Industries shares touched life-time highs of Rs 2,724 on the BSE in a strong market after the company acquired two companies on Sunday as part of its push for clean energy. Reliance Industries, through its subsidiary Reliance New Energy Solar, will acquire a 40 per cent stake in Sterling and Wilson, and 100 per cent stake in REC Solar Holdings.

Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd (RNESL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, will first acquire 15 per cent in Sterling & Wilson by way of a preferential allotment of 2.93 crore shares (equivalent to 15.46 per cent post preferential share capital) at Rs 375 per share through a combination of primary investment, secondary purchase and open offer for around Rs 2,850 crore, Reliance New Energy Solar said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges on Sunday.

RNESL will, thereafter, make public announcement to public shareholders to acquire up to 4.91 crore equity shares of of Sterling & Wilson, representing 25.9 per cent of the company, in accordance with SEBI takeover regulations.

Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd (RNESL) has also announced the acquisition of 100 per cent shareholding in the Norwegian-headquartered solar panel maker REC Solar Holdings from China National Bluestar (Group) for $771. Headquartered in Norway REC has its operations in Singapore and regional hubs in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia-Pacific.

In June, Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani had pledged to spend $10 billion on alternative energy over three years to pivot the conglomerate to cleaner fuels.

At  1:50 pm, Reliance Industries shares were trading higher by 0.3 per cent at Rs 2,679 on the BSE. The Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading at fresh record-highs, up 0.6 per cent, at the time.