India’s telecom-to-oil conglomerate Reliance Industries has completed a massive $7bn rights issue in what it touted as the world’s biggest by a non-financial institution in a decade.
Reliance, owned by Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, had said the fundraising drive was meant to pay down debt and help shift the company to a digital future.
The firm said in a statement late on Wednesday the rights issue was subscribed 1.59 times and attracted “huge investor interest”.
The successful rights issue was a “vote of confidence, by both domestic investors, foreign investors and small retail shareholders, in the intrinsic strength of the Indian economy”, Ambani said in a statement.
In April, Facebook took a $5.7bn stake in the Mumbai-based firm’s Jio digital platforms in one of India’s biggest foreign investments.
