Abhishek Securities

  Oil-to-retail conglomerate  Reliance Industries  Ltd (RIL) is said to be in the race to acquire Debenhams, a British multinational retailer operating department stores in the UK with franchise stores in other countries, Sky News reported on Wednesday. “The Reliance Retail empire, which last year bought the world-famous British toy store Hamleys, is among a small number of parties in discussions with advisers to Debenhams about acquiring part or all of the 242-year-old retailer," the Sky News report said, adding that people close to the process had indicated that the chain was keen to agree to a takeover by the end of September. However, better-than-expected trading has relaxed the urgency of that timetable in recent weeks, they said. Debenhams, which is currently owned by a consortium of lenders, has been in administration since April, with investment bankers at Lazard responsible for coordinating talks with potential buyers, Sky News said. RIL subsidiary Reliance Brand...

Kishore Biyani  and his family members are barred from re-entering the retail space for the next 15 years under a non-compete clause as part of  Reliance Retail ’s buyout of  Future Group ’s assets, said two people with knowledge of the matter.   “As per the deal contours, neither Biyani nor his immediate family members can operate in any retail segment,” said one of the persons. “There is, however, an exception, of home retailing, where Reliance has no presence so far. The deal is applicable for all existing retail businesses both online and offline.”   Biyani owns Praxis Retail, a separate entity that runs about 48 HomeTown stores with a revenue of Rs 702 crore in the last fiscal. It isn’t part of the deal with Reliance.  Reliance Retail and Future Group  did not respond to queries.   Most non-compete agreements run for three-five years but financial compulsions may have led to a longer period, experts said. “It is also fairly common...

Oil-to-telecom conglomerate  Reliance Industries  ( RIL ) is in discussions to sell a minority stake in its retail business to  Walmart  Inc, a report suggested on Monday. The world’s largest retailer is emerging as an early candidate to pick up a stake in India’s largest retail company, the Morning Context said citing an executive familiar with the development. On Saturday, RIL's retail arm Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) inked a deal with Kishor Biyani-promoted Future Group for acquiring its retail & wholesale business and the logistics & warehousing business as going concerns on a slump sale basis for a lumpsum total consideration of Rs 24,713 crore. The acquisition would help Reliance Retail’s online segment in building a deep discounting strategy for JioMart, the e-commerce venture that competes with Amazon and  Flipkart . Interestingly, Bengaluru-headquartered Flipkart, which was acquired by Walmart for $16 billion in 2018, said its wholesale unit ...