Reliance Retail raises $1 billion from Silver Lake valuing the chain at $57 billion

• With the investment, Silver Lake takes up 1.75% equity in Mukesh Ambani’s retail venture.
• The private equity firm had earlier invested $1.3 billion (₹10,202.55 crore) for a 2% stake in Jio.
• According to Business Insider’s sources, Reliance Retail is set to raise $5.7 billion.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail has raised its first investment with Silver Lake investing $1 billion into the retail unit. With the investment, Silver Lake takes up 1.75% equity in the company.

“The success of JioMart in such a short time span, especially while India, along with the rest of the world, battles the COVID-19 pandemic, is truly unprecedented, and the most exciting growth phase has just begun. Reliance’s New Commerce strategy could become the disruptor of this decade. We are thrilled to have been invited to partner with Reliance in their mission for Indian Retail,” said Egon Durban, Co-CEO and Managing Partner of Silver Lake. The private equity firm had earlier invested $1.35 billion (₹10,202.55 crore) for a 2% stake in Jio.

“I am delighted to extend our relationship with Silver Lake to our transformational efforts of building an inclusive partnership with millions of small merchants while providing value to Indian consumers across the country in the Indian retail sector. We believe technology will be key to bringing the much-needed transformation in this sector so that various constituents of the retail ecosystem can collaborate to build inclusive growth platforms. Silver Lake will be an invaluable partner in implementing our vision for Indian Retail,” said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries in a statement.

This would imply that the entire Reliance Retail, which makes for a quarter of the company's revenue and profit, worth about $57 billion (₹4.21 lakh crore). The current market value of RIL is ₹13.9 lakh crore, while Jio and Retail put together make up for almost ₹9 lakh crore.


Ambani in his speech during Reliance’s Annual General Meet had mentioned that talks are on with potential investors for investments in retail. According to Business Insider’s sources, Reliance Retail is set to raise $5.7 billion with only existing Jio investors going to come on board as investors to “further deepen the relationship”.

The fundraising comes right after Reliance Retail officially acquired one of its largest competitors Kishore Biyani’s Future Retail for ₹25,000 crore ($3.4 billion).

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