On Thursday, RIL clarified saying, “We would like to reiterate that as a policy, we do not comment on media speculation and rumours and we cannot confirm or deny any transaction which may or may not be in the works.”
RIL further added, “Our company evaluates various opportunities on an ongoing basis. We have made and will continue to make necessary disclosures in compliance with our obligations under the Securities Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2015 and our agreements with the stock exchanges.”
Clarification was sought by exchanges from RIL over a news article that appeared in the LiveMint titled, “Reliance Industries offers Amazon $20 billion stake in retail arm.”
According to the news article, Amazon has held discussions about investing in the conglomerate’s Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. unit and has expressed interest in negotiating a potential transaction, the person said. Mumbai-based Reliance Industries is willing to sell as much as a 40% stake in the subsidiary to Amazon, the person said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
The article further stated that a deal, if successful, would not only create a retail behemoth in India but will also turn Jeff Bezos and Asia’s richest man from rivals into allies in one of the fastest-growing consumer markets in the world.
On Friday, at around 10.46 AM, RIL stock is trading at Rs2315.25 per piece flat compared to the previous closing. The stock has touched an intraday high and low of Rs2332.90 per piece and Rs2286.05 per piece respectively.
In the previous closing, RIL stock surged by a massive 8.45% as the company even clocked a 52-week high of Rs2343.90 per piece. This led to market capitalisation rising to near $200bn (Rs14.48 lakh cr) which is the first time a company has touched on the Indian market.
