Amazon in talks to buy 9.9% stake in Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail

Amazon is reportedly in talks with billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries for picking up 9.9 per cent stake in Reliance Retail. Amazon wants a preferred, strategic stake in Reliance Retail for JioMart, ET Now reported citing unidentified sources. The deal, if it goes through, will help Amazon further expand its footprints in the Indian markets where it already operates an online marketplace.

Reliance Industries (RIL), the country's most valued firm, has so far raised a total of Rs 152,055.45 crore in the last three months by selling stake in its digital arm, Jio Platforms. Recently, Google announced to invest Rs 33,737 crore in Jio Platforms.

The digital arm of the Reliance Industries has so far received fourteen investments from marquee global companies and investors that include Google, Facebook, Silver Lake Partners (two investments), Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton, PIF, Intel Capital and Qualcomm Ventures.

Earlier in April, Amazon India launched a program 'Local shops on Amazon' to enable small shops and retailers to sell their products online amid nationwide lockdown in wake of the coronavirus outbreak. It had said that it will invest Rs 10 crore in launching the program which was in pilot phase for the last 6 months with 5,000-plus local shops and retailers from across 100 tier-1 and tier-2 cities.

Share price of Mukesh Ambani-led RIL on Thursday rose 3.73 per cent to hit an all-time high of Rs 2,078.9 against previous close of Rs 2,004 on the BSE. The rally in RIL stock took the market cap of the firm to Rs 13.16 lakh crore, a fresh record set by the conglomerate on BSE and NSE. The RIL share has gained 139.55 per cent from its 52-week low of Rs 867.82  hit on March 23 this year and 20.64 per cent in the last one month.

Also Read: RIL enters club of world's 50 most valued companies, ranks 48

Also Read: RIL becomes first Indian firm to cross market cap of Rs 13 lakh crore, share hits all-time high