Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s oil to data conglomerate Reliance Industries is India’s biggest single listed company by market capitalization, profits most of its refinery, the world’s largest. Reliance wants to embed itself in India’s towns and cities by dominating the 800 BN$ Retail market by forging partnerships with brands ranging from luxury fashion houses like Balenciaga to acquiring the Cola brand.
Amid Reports that the company is looking to launch its Reliance Retail IPO, the conglomerate’s chairman and managing director, Mukesh Ambani announced in the Annual General Meeting of Reliance Board that he would be updating the board members about the launch of Initial Public Offering in the next Annual General Meeting. Mukesh Ambani made the comments while addressing the 45th session of Annual General Meeting virtually.
People who want to gain the first mover advantage can invest in Pre-IPO shares of Reliance Retail. Unlisted shares are priced at Rs. 2930 per share, on the Planify Marketplace. Planify also provides access to research reports of the company, compiled by its team of financial analysts.
Speaking about recent events, in august, Reliance Brands, the high end fashion and lifestyle retailing unit of Reliance Retail, announced it has signed a long term franchisee agreement with a French luxury company Kering to sell its Balenciaga products in India. The Kering group also owns other luxury brands like Gucci, Saint Laurent etc. Reliance Brands is also apparently in talks with DLF to get a space in DLF Emporio Mall in Delhi to open a Balenciaga store.
In October, India Retailing had reported Reliance brands was opening their first Valentino store in the same DLF owned luxury mall. Last year, Reliance Retail signed a long term distribution agreement with Valentino. During the announcement, Reliance Retail had commented on its future plans according to which they would like to launch their first Valentino Boutique in New Delhi and Mumbai. The stores would be selling Valentino’s complete fashion and lifestyle accessories as well as footwell ranges for both men and women. Reliance Brands, a division of Reliance Retail has in the 15 years of its existence, marketed around 100 luxury global brands in India including Armani, Ermenegildo, Zegna, Jimmy-Choo etc.
Reliance Brands is also reportedly in talks to pick up a stake in American Luxury fashion retailer Prabal Gurung’s premium lifestyle label and set up an exclusive luxury flagship store at it’s JIO World malls, an official privy to the information told. Prabal Gurung is a Nepalese-American fashion designer who is known for dressing up celebs such as Michelle Obama, Anne Hathway and many others. Prabal launched his line in 2009 at the New York Fashion Week.
Taking advantage of India’s retail sector which is still largely dominated by Mom & Pop stores, Reliance is expanding its shopping empire at the rate of seven stores a day, using acquisitions to accelerate growth and investing around 3.6 Bn last financial year. It has 16,000 stores across India, while online purchases contribute 17% of revenues according to a person with direct information. Reliance has also announced that it will launch its own fast moving consumer goods company by the end of this year. While its e-commerce business JioMart has recently tied up with WhatsApp owned by a key Reliance investor Meta to increase its online reach, Reliance further boosted its physical shop space this year.
Reliance Retail recorded a quarterly revenue of around 8 Bn$ revenue for the three months ending September 30, earning a net profit of 283 Mn$, a 36% increase year on year.