Sebi clears Reliance buyback of shares

After day-long deliberations, Sebi cleared Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) buyback of shares at 11 pm on Friday, in the face of objections raised by RIL Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Anil Ambani. According to sources, Ambani put forward a formal objection with Sebi against the buyback, arguing that it is not in the company’s interests.

A point he raised was that one of the merchant bankers to the deal — Nimesh Kambani — also happens to be the trustee of the Petroleum Trust, which holds 7.5 per cent in RIL. When the buyback was put forward to the RIL board, Anil had abstained. He had proposed the cancellation of the Petroleum Trust shares for the buyback or a lower buyback price. Though it has cleared the buyback, Sebi has asked RIL to publish all objections in the offer advertisement. The buyback is scheduled to open on January 10.