RIL offers up to 40 percent stake in Reliance Retail to Amazon

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has offered up to 40 per cent stake in its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) to Amazon.com Inc. for about $20 billion.

Amazon has held discussions about investing in the retail arm of RIL and has expressed interest in negotiating a potential transaction, said a Bloomberg report.

Shares of RIL surged on Thursday to touch a record high of Rs 2,343.9. Its market capitalisation is currently over Rs 14.67 lakh crore.

RIL shares closed at Rs 2,314.65, higher by Rs 153.40, or 7.10 per cent, from its previous close.

Both the companies, however, have termed the report as "speculative".

In a regulatory filing, RIL said: "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."

It added that the company evaluates various opportunities on an ongoing basis and it will make necessary disclosures in compliance with SEBI regulations.

In reply to an e-mail by IANS, an Amazon spokesperson said: "We do not comment on speculations of what we may or may not do in the future."

If the deal goes through it would be among the largest foreign direct investments into India, according to analysts.

Earlier in July, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani had announced at the Annual General Meeting that global partners and investors will be brought into Reliance Retail in the next few quarters. He said that several strategic and financial investors have shown interest in Reliance Retail.

On Wednesday, RIL announced that Silver Lake will invest Rs 7,500 crore into its subsidiary RRVL.

The investment values RRVL at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.21 lakh crore. Silver Lake's investment will translate into a 1.75 per cent equity stake in RRVL on a fully diluted basis, RIL had said in a regulatory filing.