Reliance Industries Fixes May 14 As Record Date For Rights Issue

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries on Saturday fixed May 14 as the record date for its Rs 53,125-crore rights issue. The decision was taken by the company's board at a meeting held on May 9. In a regulatory filing to the exchanges late on Saturday, Reliance Industries said that the company will notify the opening and closing dates for the rights issue separately. On April 30, Reliance Industries set a price of Rs 1,257 per share for the country's biggest rights issue with a ratio of 1:15.

The conglomerate has also obtained in-principle approvals from stock exchanges BSE and NSE for the proposed rights issue of 42.26 crore equity shares, Reliance Industries said.

The rights issue is the first of its kind for Reliance Industries in almost 30 years. The company had not specified any reasons behind the plan, however, analysts said that the move appears to be an attempt to bring down the company's debt.

Reliance Industries aims to eliminate the debt of more than Rs 16 lakh crore in its books, by the end of the financial year 2020-21. Besides the planned rights issue, it has also managed to attract investements worth $5.7 billion from Facebook and nearly $750 million from private equity firm Silver Lake, into its digital arm, Jio.

Reliance Industries' net profit dropped 39 per cent to Rs 6,348 crore in the March quarter on the back of a slump in crude oil prices amid outbreak of COVID-19, the company said in an exchange filing on Thursday. The company had reported profit of Rs 10,362 crore in the same quarter last year.

On Friday, Reliance Industries shares 3.62 per cent higher at Rs 1561.80 apiece on the BSE.