Silver Lake co-investors to invest further in Reliance Retail ventures

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) announced that co-investors of Silver Lake will invest an additional 18.75 billion rupees into RRVL, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries.

Reliance Retail’s vision is to galvanise the Indian retail sector through an inclusive strategy serving millions of customers by empowering millions of farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and working closely with global and domestic companies as a preferred partner, to deliver immense benefits to Indian society, while protecting and generating employment for millions of Indians, RRVL said in a release.

Reliance Retail, through its New Commerce strategy, has started a transformational digitalisation of small and unorganised merchants and is committed to expanding the network to over 20 million of these merchants, the release said, adding that 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.

Commenting on the aggregate investment brought by Silver Lake, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, “Silver Lake and its co-investors are valued partners in 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.”

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.

The release said Silver Lake is the global leader in large-scale technology investing with more than USD 60 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a focus on the world’s great tech and tech-enabled opportunities.

It said that 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.