Reliance drops after slamming brakes on $15-billion Aramco deal

Shares of Reliance Industries fell 4.2% on Monday as India’s largest firm halted a stake sale in its oil-to-chemicals business to Saudi Arabia’s Aramco and pulled back from a potential spinoff of its most profitable unit.

The move to monetize its oil business two years ago by selling a 20% stake for roughly $15 billion to the world’s biggest oil exporter was part of its plan to cut the overall debt, which stood at 2,882.43 billion rupees ($41.8 billion).

But over the last two years, while the due diligence was on, Reliance became net-debt free by selling stakes at its digital unit Jio Platforms to global companies, including Meta Platforms Inc and venture capital arms of chipmakers Intel Corp and Qualcomm.