Why is Mubadala also showing interest in Reliance Retail Ventures now?

The saga of Reliance monetizing its stake in subsidiary properties and the saga of investors falling over one another to pick up a stake in these properties is likely to continue for some more time. If Jio was the prelude, Reliance Retail could be the real test.

What happened in the stake sale of Jio Platforms; it now looks like the pattern may be repeating all over again in Reliance Retail. After KKR and Silver Lakes bought 3.03% stake in Reliance Retail for Rs.13,100 crore, it is now the turn of the Abu Dhabi based Mubadala.

Mubadala Investments plans to infuse anywhere between $700 million and $1 billion into Reliance Retail. Apart from KKR and Silver Lakes, Mubadala had also picked up a significant stake in Jio Platforms when Reliance was monetizing its digital presence in May this year.

Just for the records, Mubadala Investments is the second largest investor from Abu Dhabi after ADIA and manages $240 billion in AUM. Mubadala has been quite active in India and has been looking at digital properties to diversify from its oil dependence.

In the meanwhile, Reliance Industries is also in talks with Masayoshi Son’s Softbank of Japan for a minor stake sale even as RIL is in touch with Amazon for a strategic stake. The full picture of Reliance Retail is likely to crystallize in the coming few months.