RIL-Saudi Aramco deal said to have hit roadblock; RIL shares down nearly 1%

The proposed deal between oil-to-telecom behemoth Reliance Industries (RIL) and Saudi Aramco for a 25 per cent stake sale in Jamnagar refinery has hit a roadblock.

Quoting sources, ETNOW reported this morning that the talks have got stalled over valuation concerns.

The median valuation the Street takes for the core businesses is around $70 billion compared with the $50 billion debt on the company’s books, the report said.

“Saudi Aramco is not keen on giving a steep valuation for this transaction, though it is keen on downstream and petchem assets. And India is not the only place it has been looking for assets. The company is also scouring Southeast Asia for assets that are available at lower valuations. That’s why the talks actually hit the air pocket,” the report said.

Queries sent by ETNOW to RIL went unanswered.

RIL has been expanding its retail, telecom and other consumer businesses aggressively. The company in April reported a decent growth in March quarter consolidated profit, backed by strong show by retail and telecom divisions.

The company posted 9.79 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in consolidated profit at Rs 10,362 crore for the quarter ended March 31.

The shares of the company closed 0.89 per cent lower at Rs 1315.30 on BSE.