RIL acquires 22.8 mn shares of Strand Life Sciences for Rs 393 cr

The acquisition was done via RIL's subsidiary Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited

Reliance Strategic Business Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), announced the acquisition of 22.8 million equity shares of Rs 10 each of Strand Life Sciences for a consideration of Rs 393 crore.

A further investment of up to Rs 160 crore is expected to be completed by March 2023. The total investment will translate into about 80.3% of equity share capital in Strand on a fully diluted basis.

Incorporated in India on October 6, 2000, Strand is a pioneer of genomic testing in India with bioinformatics software and clinical research solutions to healthcare providers including clinicians, hospitals, medical devices manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies.

Strand's turnover was Rs 88.70 crore, Rs 109.84 crore and Rs 96.60 crore, and net profit (loss) of Rs 8.48 crore, Rs (25.04) crore and Rs (21.66) crore in FY 2021, FY 2020 and FY 2019 respectively.

"The aforesaid investment is part of group's digital health initiatives, to foster affordable access to world class technology and innovation led healthcare ecosystem in India," RIL said in a statement on Friday.

RIL is the largest private sector corporation in India. Its activities span hydrocarbon exploration and production, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals, retail and digital services. The company reported a 7.3% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 12,273 crore on a 58.6% rise in net sales to Rs 1,39,949 crore in Q1 FY22 over Q1 FY21.

On Friday, shares of RIL jumped 4.12% to close at Rs 2,388.25 on the BSE. The stock hit a record high of Rs 2394.30 in late trade today.