RIL announces biggest rights issue of Rs 53,125 crore; share sale at 14% discount

NEW DELHI: Oil-to-telecom major Reliance Industries (RIL) will raise over Rs 53,000 crore from its shareholders via rights issue, the company said on Thursday.

“The board approved the issuance of equity shares of Rs 10 each of the company on rights basis to eligible equity shareholders as on the record date of an issue size of Rs 53,125 crore,” said RIL in a notification. This will be the biggest ever right issue by any Indian company.

The RIL rights issue is priced at Rs 1,257, a discount of Rs 210 or 14 per cent from the last close.

Shareholders can subscribe to one equity share for every 15 equity shares held by eligible shareholders as on the record date.

“The promoter and promoter group of the company have confirmed they will subscribe to the full extent of their aggregate rights entitlement. In addition, they will also subscribe to all the unsubscribed shares in the Issue,” Reliance Industries said.

The rights issue comes on the heels of Rs 43,600 crore deal with Facebook in lieu of a 10 per cent stake in Jio Platforms. The company plans to be debt free by March 2021, and proceeds from these share sales will help the company reduce its liabilities significantly.