RIL Arm Buys Majority Stake In Strand Life Sciences For Rs 393 Crore

Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday said its subsidiary has acquired majority stake in genomic testing frim Strand Life Sciences Pvt Ltd for Rs 393 crore.

The acquisition by Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd (RSBVL) is part of Reliance's digital health intiatives, the firm said in a stock exchange filing.

"RSBVL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has acquired 2.28 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each of Strand Life Sciences Private Limited for a cash consideration of Rs 393 crore only," it said.

A further investment of up to Rs 160 crore is expected to be completed by March, 2023.

"The total investment will translate into about 80.3 per cent of equity share capital in Strand on a fully diluted basis," it said.

Strand was incorporated in India on October 6, 2000. It is a pioneer of genomic testing in India with bioinformatics software and clinical research solutions to healthcare providers, including clinicians, hospitals, medical devices manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies.

Strand's turnover was Rs 88.70 crore, Rs 109.84 crore and Rs 96.60 crore in FY2021, FY2020 and FY 2019, respectively. It reported a net profit of Rs 8.48 crore in FY2021 but had a loss of Rs 25.04 crore in the prior fiscal year and Rs 21.66 crore in FY2019.

"The aforesaid investment is part of group's digital health initiatives, to foster affordable access to world-class technology and innovation-led healthcare ecosystem in India," Reliance said adding no governmental or regulatory approvals were required for the said investment.

The investment, it said, does not fall within related party transactions and none of RIL's promoter / promoter group / group companies have any interest in the transaction.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor