New Delhi: Reliance Industries Limited on Friday (November 19) announced that the proposed stake acquisition by Saudi Aramco in its O2C business stands cancelled now. Reliance Industries along with Saudi Aramco, have decided to re-evaluate the proposed investment in the O2C business, the company mentioned in a statement issued to exchanges.
“Due to evolving nature of Reliance’s business portfolio, Reliance and Saudi Aramco have mutually determined that it would be beneficial for both parties to re-evaluate the proposed investment in O2C business in light of the changed context. Consequently, the current application with NCLT for segregating the O2C business from RIL is being withdrawn,” the company said in a statement.
Worth mentioning here is that RIL and Saudi Aramco had signed a non-binding letter of intent in August 2019 for a potential 20% stake acquisition by Saudi Aramco in the O2C Business of Reliance. Over the past two years, both the companies made significant efforts in the process of due diligence, despite Covid restrictions. But finally, the deal did not go through.
“The deep engagement over the last two years has given both Reliance and Saudi Aramco a greater understanding of each other, providing a platform for broader areas of cooperation. Saudi Aramco and Reliance are deeply committed to creating a win-win partnership and will make future disclosures as appropriate,” the Mumbai-headquartered company said in a statement.
RIL will continue to be Saudi Aramco’s partner for investments in the private sector in India and will collaborate with Saudi Aramco and SABIC for investments in Saudi Arabia, the Mukesh Ambani-owned company further said in the statement.
“Saudi Aramco and RIL have a very deep, strong and mutually beneficial relationship, that has been developed and nurtured by both companies over the last 25 years. Both companies are committed to collaborate and work towards strengthening the relationship further in the years ahead,” Reliance Industries said.
On Thursday, RIL shares closed 0.37% higher at Rs 2,473 apiece. Over the last one month, RIL shares have corrected over 8% after touching a 52-week high of Rs 2,751.35 apiece in October.