Amazon's Challenger Owned By India's Richest Man Could Attract $1B Interest From Qatar Sovereign Fund

This story was first published on the Benzinga India portal.

India's Reliance Industries (RIL) shares climbed more than 2% on Wednesday amid reports that billionaire Mukesh Ambani is in talks with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) for the sovereign wealth fund to buy a minority share in Reliance Retail.

What Happened? As reported by the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, QIA, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, is discussing investing $1 billion in Reliance Retail, which would represent a stake of around 1%. This deal would value the business at an estimated $100 billion (₹8.2 lakh crore).

Earlier in the month, Reuters reported that global consultants had valued Reliance Retail, fully owned by Reliance Industries, between $92-$96 billion, indicating a potential future initial public offering. Ambani has previously mentioned his intentions to list his retail business but hasn’t specified a timeline.

The oil-to-telecon conglomerate competes fiercely with Amazon for India's retail space. The two companies also got into a legal dispute regarding Reliance's potential acquisition of troubled local retail chain Big Bazaar.

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Reliance Retail encompasses a variety of retail operations, including international partnerships and consumer goods business. Headed by Ambani’s daughter, Isha Ambani, the firm’s core retail businesses consist of both online and physical stores. Over the years, it has teamed up with numerous global brands, such as Burberry, Pret A Manger, and Tiffany, to boost its presence in India.

Final approval for the QIA investment deal has not yet been given, and terms may still change, the Financial Times report added.

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Photo by PradeepGaurs on Shutterstock