Reliance Industries shares pare early gains; close nearly 1 pc lower

New Delhi, May 22 () Shares of Reliance Industries on Friday erased all its early gains and closed the trade nearly 1 per cent lower.

In early trade, shares of the country's most-valued firm had gained 1.28 per cent to Rs 1,458.50 on the BSE. But, later, the gains fizzled out and it closed at Rs 1,431.60, 0.59 per cent lower.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also, it closed lower by 0.57 per cent at Rs 1,433 after rising 1.16 per cent to Rs 1,458 in early trading.

Reliance Industries on Friday announced the sale of a 2.32 per cent stake in its digital unit to the US-based private equity giant KKR for Rs 11,367 crore, the fifth deal in four weeks that will inject a combined Rs 78,562 crore in the oil-to-telecom conglomerate to help it pare debt.

This is KKR's largest investment in Asia.

"This transaction values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. This is KKR's largest investment in Asia and will translate into a 2.32 per cent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis," the company said in a statement.

The deal follows Facebook picking up a 9.99 per cent stake in the firm, housing India's youngest but largest telecom company, on April 22 for Rs 43,574 crore.

Within days of that deal, Silver Lake, the world's largest tech investor, bought a 1.15 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 5,665.75 crore.

On May 8, the US-based Vista Equity Partners bought 2.32 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 11,367 crore. On May 17, global equity firm General Atlantic picked up 1.34 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 6,598.38 crore. SUM HRS