RIL's retail units set for merger

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is set to carry out a major restructuring exercise. Nine of its retail units would be merged with Reliance Retail and Reliance Fresh. Last month, the Bombay High Court had approved the merger. The nine companies - Retail, Reliance Footprint, Reliance Gems and Jewels, Reliance Leisures, Reliance Trends, Reliance Autozone, Reliance Digital Media, Reliance Replay Gaming and RESQ - are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Reliance Fresh which, in turn, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail.

In a petition to the court, RIL had said the restructuring would lead to better cash management, enabling Reliance Fresh to improve its financials. It would also result in an increased asset base and help expand. An RIL spokesperson did not reply to calls by Business Standard. The operations of these firms might be divided into domestic and international segments.

The restructuring is aimed at housing all domestic operations of these companies under a single company---Reliance Fresh---and all international operations under a different company---Reliance Trends.

The merger of the companies with Reliance Fresh would result in the activities connected to organised retail being consolidated into a single company. "The restructuring will also result in an improvement in cash management, enabling Reliance Fresh to improve its financial position, have an increased asset base and expand operations," the RIL counsel said.

The court order said the restructuring would strengthen the leadership, in terms of revenues, product range and volumes, resulting in enhanced shareholder value. The process would also simplify business structure by eliminating multiple entities engaged in similar activities; connected operations can be conveniently combined, creating a single unified entity in place of a holding company and subsidiary companies.