Nippon Life to raise stake in Reliance Life to 49%

Reliance Power completes capex of Rs 50,000 cr in phase one, while R-Infra spent Rs 30,000 cr in last 6 years

Reliance Capital and its joint venture partner, Nippon Life Insurance, are in discussion for the latter to increase stake in its life insurance joint venture, Reliance Life, Reliance Capital chairman Anil Ambani said. Nippon Life has 26 per cent stake in Reliance Life, which it plans to raise to 49 per cent.

Nippon Life Insurance is also in the process of raising its stake in Reliance Capital Asset Management from 35 per cent to 49 per cent, at a higher valuation as compared to the earlier round, said Ambani at the Reliance Capital annual general meeting (AGM) on Wednesday. ''Proceeds from these sales will flow to Reliance Capital and will be utilised to further reduce our overall debt levels,'' he added.

Ambani said both transactions would be completed within the current financial year.

Also, the company is planning to more than double its housing finance book to about Rs 10,000 crore during this year, and rank among the top-three players in the private sector in India within the next three years.

Reliance Capital is also at an advanced stage to re-launch commodity exchange ICEX.

Ambani also said the company would continue to liquidate its financial investments in non-core areas such as media, and expect to book attractive returns.

Meanwhile, at the Reliance Power AGM, Ambani said the company has completed phase-I of its full programme at an investment of Rs 50,000 crore with an operating capacity of 6,000 megawatt (Mw). He informed the shareholders that Reliance Power had net profit of Rs 1,028 crore and income of Rs 7,202 crore in 2014-15, with a debt equity ratio of 1.5:1.

TALE OF THREE AGMs

Reliance Capital

• Nippon Life to hike stake from 26% to 49% in Reliance Life
• Nippon Life to raise stake in Reliance Capital Asset Management from 35% to 49%
• To relaunch commodity exchange ICEX

Reliance Power

• Completes phase-I capex with investment of Rs  50,000 crore
• Considering maiden dividend this year
• Evaluating exit from Indonesian coal concession

Reliance Infrastructure

• Invested Rs  30,000 crore in last six years
• All projects operational; full impact will be visible next financial year
• Future growth areas: Defence manufacturing and smart cities

Ambani also said the board was considering making the first maiden dividend payment this year. As far as its resources business is concerned, it would focus on India and is evaluating exiting Indonesian coal concessions.

At the Reliance Infrastructure AGM, Ambani said the company had invested about Rs 30,000 crore in the past six years. He told shareholders that all the projects were operational and assured shareholders that full impact would be visible in the next financial year's cash flow.

Ambani said, ''Reliance Infrastructure sees two drivers of future growth: defence manufacturing and small cities.''

As far as defence manufacturing is concerned, Ambani said the proposed Reliance Defence & Offshore Engineering acquisition would be completed this financial year. Besides, it is in talks with large number of international defence majors for strategic partnerships. Ambani said all strategic options would be explored for cement and roads business where it has invested Rs 15,000 crore, which would help the company reduce its debt.