The Hindu Business Line : Reliance sells down stake in subsidiary

MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Ltd has sold 4.01 per cent of its subsidiary Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL) for Rs 4,020 crore ($1.01 billion), it said in a statement sent on late Friday.

After its sale of 180 million shares, Reliance's shareholding has come down to 71 per cent, it said. The U.S. based Chevron Corp owns 5 per cent in Reliance Petroleum.

"The sale of RPL shares was conducted by transactions through the stock exchanges and has helped to further broad base the shareholding pattern of RPL," it said.

Newspaper reports however said that the stake sale was to enable Reliance Industries to resume trading in the derivative segment of its subsidiary as it was forced to stop trading after its long positions heavily outnumbered short positions in the stock and breached regulatory limits.

Reliance Petroleum which listed in May 2006 by selling 90 crore shares has seen its stock price jump sharply in recent weeks to a lifetime high of Rs 295 earlier this month on speculation that the U.S. oil major may increase its stake.

Reliance Industries shares rose 3.03 per cent at Rs 2,811.45 while Reliance Petroleum shares gained 0.6 per cent at Rs 209.50 on Friday, while the Mumbai market rose 1.8 per cent.

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