INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Investor demand for Reliance Industries Ltd.'s retail business is so strong that Carlyle Group Inc
are among those that have been put onto a waiting list, according to people familiar with the matter.Carlyle and SoftBank have recently
expressed interest in investing in Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd., said the people, who asked not to be identified as the
Reliance Industries has asked the two companies to wait on the sideline since the conglomerate is already in advanced talks with other
financial investors, the people said.Mr Ambani is tapping the backers of his digital services business, which has secured $20 billion in
recent months, as he seeks funding for Reliance Retail
Silver Lake Partners, an investor in Jio Platforms Ltd., last week agreed to chip in $1 billion
Other Jio investors, including private equity funds KKR - Co
and L Catterton, are also considering investing, Bloomberg News has reported.Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Co., which is a Jio investor
as well, is weighing an investment of about $750 million in Reliance Retail, the people said
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund are also mulling investments, one of the people said.The strong
response from Jio's financial investors means there's not enough for others
Reliance Industries plans to sell about a 10% stake in Reliance Retail to financial investors and almost all the $5.7 billion worth of
shares have been taken up, the people said.The largest allocation is reserved for Amazon.com Inc., Bloomberg News reported last week
Mr Ambani is offering to sell a roughly $20 billion stake in the retail business to the United States tech giant, which could be equivalent
A deal, if successful, would be the biggest ever in India as well as for Amazon, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.Potential investors
including Carlyle and SoftBank could still get their hands on Reliance Retail shares should others cut their commitments, the people said
Negotiations are ongoing and could still be delayed or fall apart, the people said.Representatives for Reliance, Carlyle, SoftBank, ADIA and
Mubadala declined to comment, while a representatives for PIF didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.Mr Ambani has identified
technology and retail as future growth areas in a pivot away from the energy businesses he inherited from his father, who died in 2002
Retail is the next frontier for the 63-year-old Indian tycoon, whose ambitions include creating a home-grown e-commerce giant like China's
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.Shares of Reliance Industries have risen about 54 per cent this year, giving the conglomerate a market value of
