With 33 deals, FY19 was the busiest year for RIL's M&A team in a decade

Reflective of the conglomerate's ambition to turn into a consumer-driven business, most of the acquisitions in the last financial year were for its digital, retail, or related verticals

It is churn time for oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL). As the company divests from some core segments and invests in consumer-facing ones, it dealt with 33 merger and acquisitions (M&As), investment and joint ventures in the last financial year. This is the busiest its M&A team has been in a decade.

According to data available with Bloomberg, RIL reported 33 such activities — some complete and some pending in 2018-2019 financial year (FY19) — valued at $2.9 billion. In FY18, the company had reported 16 such deals. 

Reflective of the conglomerate’s ambition to turn into a consumer-driven business, most of the