Abu Dhabi Investment Authority agreed to buy an additional stake in Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s rapidly expanding retail unit for 49.7 billion rupees ($597 million).

ADIA will acquire a 0.6 percent stake in closely-held Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, according to an exchange filing late Friday from parent Reliance Industries Ltd. The transaction values India’s largest retailer at pre-money equity value of 8.38 trillion rupees, the filing said.

The United Arab Emirates-based firm had invested $750 million in Reliance Retail in October 2020 and another $507 million the same month in the conglomerate’s fiber-optic assets.

The latest investment from ADIA comes after global investment firm KKR & Co. invested an additional $250 million in Ambani’s retail business that rivals global competitors including Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. in the world’s most populous nation. Before that, Qatar Investment Authority acquired a 0.99 percent stake in Reliance Retail for $1 billion in August.

Ambani also told shareholders in August that the retail business will line up more international investors.

Now headed by Ambani’s daughter, Isha, Reliance Retail has undertaken a series of acquisitions to establish a strong foothold in India’s burgeoning retail space to compete with Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.

Reliance Retail raised over $6 billion three years ago from investors that include sovereign wealth funds across the Middle East and Singapore along with General Atlantic and Silver Lake Partners.

By PR Sanjai

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Qatar Investment Authority Invests $1 Billion in India’s Reliance Retail Ventures

The Gulf sovereign wealth fund will acquire a 1 percent stake in Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate, nearly doubling its valuation to $100 billion from its last funding round in 2020.