Silver lake co-investors buy additional stake in Reliance retail

Reliance Industries and Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (“RRVL”) announced on Wednesday (September 30) night that co-investors of Silver Lake will invest an additional ₹ 1,875 crore into RRVL, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. This brings the aggregate investment by Silver Lake and its co-investors in RRVL to ₹ 9,375 crore, which will translate into a 2.13 per cent equity stake in RRVL on a fully diluted basis. This latest investment values Reliance Retail at a pre-money equity value of ₹ 4.285 lakh crore.

 Reliance Retail Limited, a subsidiary of RRVL, is the fastest-growing business that claims to serve close to 640 million footfalls across its 12,000 stores nationwide. Reliance Retail, through its New Commerce strategy, has started a transformational digitalization of small and unorganised merchants and is committed to expanding the network to over 20 million of these merchants. This will enable the merchants to use technology tools and an efficient supply chain infrastructure to deliver a superior value proposition to their own customers.

With more than $60 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a focus on the world’s great tech and tech-enabled opportunities, Silver Lake is the global leader in large-scale technology investing. Its mission is to build and grow great companies by partnering with world-class management teams. Its other investments have included Airbnb, Alibaba, Alphabet’s Verily and Waymo units, Dell Technologies, Twitter and numerous other global technology leaders.

Commenting on the aggregate investment brought by Silver Lake, Mr. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, “Silver Lake and its co-investors are valued partners on our journey to transform Indian Retail for the benefit of all Indians. We are pleased to have their confidence and support, as well as the benefit of their leadership in global technology investing and their valued network of relationships for the Retail Revolution in India. Silver Lake’s additional investment is a strong endorsement of the tremendous potential of Indian Retail and the capabilities of Reliance Retail.”

Commenting on the investment, Mr. Egon Durban, Co-CEO and Managing Partner of Silver Lake, said, “We are delighted to increase our exposure and bring more of our co-investors into this unmatched opportunity. The continued investment momentum over the last few weeks is proof of the compelling vision and business model of Reliance Retail – and underscores the tremendous potential of the transformative New Commerce initiative.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Retail and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsels. Latham & Watkins and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co acted as legal counsels for Silver Lake.