Reliance Industries to earn $990 mn in fuel retail deal with UK's BP Plc

Aramco agreed to buy a 20% stake in Reliance's oil refining and petrochemicals division

Reliance Industries Ltd. will receive Rs 70 billion ($990 million) from BP Plc in a deal announced last week that gives the European oil major a 49 per cent stake in the Indian conglomerate’s fuel retail business.

Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced the value of the deal for the first time at the company’s annual meeting on Monday. The companies last week said they’d agreed to form a new joint venture that will take over 1,400 retail fuel stations run by Reliance along with its aviation fuels operations at more than 30 airports across India.

The partners plan to expand the fuel retailing network to as many as 5,500 stations over the next five years. The companies expect final agreements for the joint venture this year and to complete the transaction in the first half of 2020. Reliance will hold 51 per cent in the new venture, while BP will own the remainder.

Ambani also announced Monday that Saudi Aramco agreed to buy a 20 per cent stake in Reliance’s oil refining and petrochemicals division. Reliance values the unit at $75 billion including debt, implying a $15 billion valuation for the stake. Reliance’s share of the fuel retail venture is included in the Aramco deal, he said.

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