Mukesh Ambani eyes global retail giant

jusarrived

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Last Updated: March 12, 2007 19:37 IST
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, equipped with a war chest of an estimated Rs 100,000 crore (Rs 1000 billion), is understood to be on a global hunt for acquiring a retail giant of the size of Wal-Mart or Tesco.

Listed as world's 14th richest person by Forbes, Ambani is believed to have let loose his advisers to scout the globe, hoping to market India's agriculture produce, including fruits and vegetables that could fetch much higher value abroad than the domestic market.

After the merger of group company IPCL with flagship RIL, the Indian business tycoon is believed to have created a trust with cash up to Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion), which could be doubled with other investors for leveraging the equivalent debt for global acquisitions, a source in the know of the development said.


"Why should Mukesh Ambani not go global when international companies are looking toward India's retail market... he is looking for a global acquisition of a chain like Wal-Mart, Tesco or Carrefour," he said.

Officials of Reliance or aides of Mukesh Ambani could not be contacted for comments. Industry sources said a top-level team associated with Mukesh Ambani was in the US last week, possibly exploring the market.
Mukesh Ambani has already committed an investment of Rs 25,000 crore for the retail operations in India, which would comprise hypermarkets, supermarkets and speciality stores.

Going by the present level of real estate acquisition for the purpose, the investment in the domestic retail business could double.

Reliance Retail has already emerged as the single largest player in the fresh food format stores within months of its launch and Ambani is believed to be keen on taking his farm-to-fork project global.

Towards this, he is entering into massive contract farming and strengthening the supply chain, which includes creating a huge cold storage network and streamlining transportation.

The group has its own fleet of cargo aircraft, which could ensure supplies to any part of the globe overnight. The move comes amid a rush among global retail giants to enter India, one of the most promising retail markets with a population of over one billion.

While the likes of Wal-Mart, which has a revenue of around $320 billion, is looking at the Indian retail market worth $300 billion, sources said Ambani believes the value for Indian farm produce abroad could be ten times more than what it can fetch at home.

As such there are reports that Mukesh Ambani could also be looking for a major petrochemical entity to leverage his strong domestic supply of raw materials for high value products and markets in Europe and America.


WoW ...we shud announce a national holiday , if this ever happens ! :D
 
Lest just hope he doesn't go against Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has no soul it destroys anything in its path.
 
I actually hope they take on Wal-Mart ....these guys are more than capable of competing with wal-mart ....wal-marts track record outside US isnt that great either....reliance has done the same india as walmart in US...!

but mark my words , ambani will be the richest man on earth very soon !
 
i doubt they can get walmart, carrefour or even tesco's...maybe a company of size like sainsburys..which will cost around £5 billion.
 
^^
not even sainsburys, these grocery giants are worth to much, not even bill gates would be able to acquire tesco or walmarts,.
i think the article means there looking to buy a share in the tesco or walmarts. or maybe setup make a joint partnership with them to bring it to india.
 
Wal-mart probably is out of their reach...but tesco certainly isnt .....relaince is sitting on huge cash reserves.....a $5 billon takeover will be of no use to them .

Their petro chem devision is scouting for a takeover in the range of $60 billion..retail is expected to be much bigger for reliance than petrochemical..... so I wont be surprised if this happens !

suhaib ,

Reliance has better resources than Bill gates for such buyouts !
 
jusarrived said:
Wal-mart probably is out of their reach...but tesco certainly isnt .....relaince is sitting on huge cash reserves.....a $5 billon takeover will be of no use to them .

Their petro chem devision is scouting for a takeover in the range of $60 billion..retail is expected to be much bigger for reliance than petrochemical..... so I wont be surprised if this happens !

suhaib ,

Reliance has better resources than Bill gates for such buyouts !

I disagree regarding tesco their market value is around £30 billion( around $58 billion)... revenues close to £60billion($ 116 billion) and only getting bigger.
 
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well reliance is a company and gates is an individual so you cant compare them, but if reliance would like to take over tesco, then all there owners would have to put their cash into it togeher, and they still might not be able to afford it , tesco would be worth alot more then $5 billion alot alot alot more, there annual profits are around $5 billion it self and is rapidly growing at a speeding rate, $5 billion wouldnt even buy you 10% of tesco.
 
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jusarrived said:
Wal-mart probably is out of their reach...but tesco certainly isnt .....relaince is sitting on huge cash reserves.....a $5 billon takeover will be of no use to them .

Their petro chem devision is scouting for a takeover in the range of $60 billion..retail is expected to be much bigger for reliance than petrochemical..... so I wont be surprised if this happens !

suhaib ,

Reliance has better resources than Bill gates for such buyouts !

didnt say dollars..just read sainsbury's market value is $14 billion around £7 billion
 
suhaib said:
well reliance is a company and gates is an individual so you cant compare them, but if reliance would like to take over tesco, then all there owners would have to put their cash into it togeher, and they still might not be able to afford it , tesco would be worth alot more then $5 billion alot alot alot more, there annual profits are around $5 billion it self and is rapidly growing at a speeding rate, $5 billion wouldnt even buy you 10% of tesco.


tescos market value is $58 billion
 
it was on CNBC today.....reliance is in talks for two different deal's......firstly for 14% stake in carrefour & its also looking for a complete buy out of secn tier retail comp..... they are in talks with sainsbury and marks n spencer !
 
suhaib said:
well reliance is a company and gates is an individual so you cant compare them, but if reliance would like to take over tesco, then all there owners would have to put their cash into it togeher, and they still might not be able to afford it , tesco would be worth alot more then $5 billion alot alot alot more, there annual profits are around $5 billion it self and is rapidly growing at a speeding rate, $5 billion wouldnt even buy you 10% of tesco.

When I said Billgates ,I meant Microsoft !

I said reliance wudnt be interested in $5 Billion takeovers......these guys think big n its well known they want be the biggest company in the world....any ways its confirmed they are looking at either sanisbury or M & S.....but to also get hold of 14% stake in carrefour its going to be an achivement ,considering its a french company !
 
well 14% in carrefour wouldnt be a big deal, as for sainsburys or M&S it would need alot alot of cash of buy them out,
 
14% for starters man .....the rest is held buy public , so they will be the only ones with a large stake..n its a french company !

this is confirmed news , its goin to be either sanisbury or M & S....!
 
Unless of course the Ambanis don't end up in jail for all the fraud they committed.Right now the indian stock market is booming because of all the FIIs and they are throwing that money around like there is no tommorow.

And for you to compare Microsoft with Reliance is a joke.Have you checked the market capitalization for both of them?
 
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what fraud's ?
reliance has only used its political influence ,which most companies have done at some point...especially the ones in old economy sectors !

Microsoft's marcap cud be much more than Reliance , but its growth in last decade n future guidance isnt.....there arent many companies in the world of reliance size giving 60% YoY growth....n there are alot of companies in reliance group which are yet to go public .....Reliance retal is expected to hit the market in early 2008 ...which should take care of marcap!
 
Have you heard of the infocomm toll fraud?They got away by paying a fine but things will not be easy always.Many of the SEZs they have announced also are coming under investigation.

Regarding retail they have a couple of retail outlets in hyderabad and couple of other tier 3 cities which are doing moderate business at best and they plan on going public with that?They may well go, given the market mood but it will be hollow.

Again YOY growth in what?Stock prices?Again hype...

Except their core petrochemical business none of their other businesses have yet been a success(i am not talking about marketcap here).They are not making money on infocomm or the host of other initiatives announced over the last couple of years...They are just using peoples money and the company's previous reputation on adventures at best...
 
Reliance is infact the fastest growing telcom company in india......I hope you understand telcom is a capital insentive industry .....reliance has invested billions into it and are bound to make money from it...inspite of all this they have shown 40% growth last year...market leaders started showing profits onl since last 2 years !

Retail , ist just the begining.....they are planning investment in the range of $ 30 billion in next few years.....indian maket is set to grow 10 fold in commimg years...suer there is going to be compiteteion frm likes of taat's n Birla....but if I had to put my money on , it wud be reliance to take top spot here !

YoY growth on stock's ? Dude I was talkin about their sales n profits ....they have been showing 50+ % growth evry year !

Textile was their first big sucess , power , petrochem n infcm are all doing well.....!

I dunno wat you mean by using peoples money ..on the contrary no other company in india has created wealth for people like reliance has ...if anything , they are good at bending the rules .....as for the issues with land acquasition for SEZ ,even the tata's are in trouble !
 
jusarrived said:
14% for starters man .....the rest is held buy public , so they will be the only ones with a large stake..n its a french company !

this is confirmed news , its goin to be either sanisbury or M & S....!


well you just said there not interested in $5 billion takeovers :20: 14% of care four would be even less then that.
 
suhaib said:
well you just said there not interested in $5 billion takeovers :20: 14% of care four would be even less then that.

they have the option of raising their stake from market once they get hold of this 14% ...they are in talks to buy sanisbury n M&S ..which could cost them much anything btw $ 15 -20 Billion !
 
suhaib said:
M&S will cost more like $40 billion+

That shud be perfect for the ambani's....according to CNBC anyting around $50 Billion shud be well within reliance's reach .....!

There is another news making headlines , its joint venture with DOW petro chem .....this apparently will make the new petro-chm company ,the second biggest in the world . :19:
 
i highly doubt reliance could get hold of any $40 billion deal, i will be suprised if they take over M&S, they might just make sainsburys.
 
just read sainsburys is valued at $20 billion dollars ( about £10.5 billion pounds). :22:
 
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