The board of Reliance Industries (RIL) will meet on 2 March to consider merger of Reliance Petroleum (RPL) with itself. The merger will be effective retrospectively from 1 April 2001.
The merger plan was announced after the close of trading hours. In separate but identical filings both Reliance Industries and Reliance Petroleum informed the stock exchanges of their boards' proposals for merger.
The Reliance Industries scrip closed 1.97 per cent lower at Rs1,265.05, while Reliance Petroleum scrip dropped 1.23 per cent to Rs76.20.
Reliance Industries holds 70.38 per cent stake in Reliance Petroleum, while Chevron holds another 5 per cent. The rest is held by financial institutions and the public.
The deal is expected to also lead to Reliance Industries acquiring the 5 per cent stake that Chevron holds in Reliance Petroleum, company sources said.
''The merger will not affect the export-oriented unit status of Reliance Petroleum,” according to commerce secretary GK Pillai.
Reliance Petroleum operates an export-oriented refinery with an annual crude processing capacity of 580,000 barrels per day, has total refining capacity in excess of 1.2 million barrels of crude, including its domestic unit nearby, making it the wold's largest refinery.
The Reliance group also has interests in oil exploration, petrochemicals, life sciences and retail trade.
While the move may help boost RIL shares, analysts expect holders of Reliance Petro shares to take a hit. The merger ratio of the shares are yet to be finalised.
Source: Domain B