Reliance Retail Ups Stake in Just Dial via Preferential Allotment

On Thursday, RRVL (Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd.) informed that it had acquired the sole control of 25-year-old firm Just Dial. Just Dial is a search and discovery firm, also popularly known as a local business listing search engine. The move makes way for Reliance Industries to have access to Just Dial’s vendor and organisation database.

The increase in the stake came after a round of preferential allotment of shares. Preferential allotment occurs when a company offers bulk shares to an individual or organisation at a predetermined amount.

Check out the key highlights of this power move below.

Key Highlights of the Reliance-Just Dial Stake

On Thursday, 2 September, Just Dial’s board announced that the company was sanctioning 2.12 crores shares to be allotted to Reliance Retail Ventures. The highlights of the move are as follows:

• Just Dial issued a preferential allotment of 2.12 crores equity shares at Rs. 1022.25 per share.
• Post this allotment, RRVL presently holds 40.98% of the total equity share of Just Dial.
• This news follows the news in August of Just Dial’s shareholders approving plans to issue shares worth Rs. 2,165 crores to RRVL.
• Previously, they had announced the deal in July.
• Presently, Reliance Retail Ventures holds a stake of 66.95% in Just Dial Ltd. That is around Rs. 3,497 crores.
• The move gives RRVL a vantage as it now has access to the nation’s vendors and organisations.

Further Details of Reliance Retail Ventures’ Acquisition

Apart from this present acquisition, this company will also acquire 13.1 million shares from V.S.S. Mani, the founder of Just Dial.

This is equal to a stake of 15.62%. It will hence give RRVL a stake of 40.98% in Just Dial.

Moreover, post the deal, Reliance Retail Ventures will be seen as a promoter of Just Dial.

Presently, Reliance Retail Ventures reported a consolidated turnover of Rs. 157,629 crore. Further, RRVL reported a net profit of Rs. 5,481 crores for the year ended in March 2021.

Bottom Line

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd is looking to acquire 66.95% in Just Dial. It proposes to achieve this through transactions of Rs. 5,719 crores that will include an open offer to public shareholders for 26%.

The boost spelled good news for Just Dial shareholders as the shares rose to Rs. 981 apiece. It also saw a rise of 0.5% on the Nifty 50.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the position of Just Dial founder V.S.S. Mani?

V.S.S. Mani will continue in his post of CEO and managing director. He sold his shares via a block window facility.

2. What does Reliance Retail gain from the transaction?

RRVL will gain access to Just Dial’s database of 30.4 million listings. Moreover, it will also gain consumer traffic of 129.1 million quarterly unique users.

3. What does Just Dial do?

Just Dial helps users search for local businesses like plumbers, maintenance specialists, etc. It provides its services through websites, apps, and much more.