RIL says name of Reliance Strategic Investments changed to Jio Financial Services from July 25

Reliance Industries Ltd on Wednesday said the name of its demerged entity Reliance Strategic Investments has been changed to Jio Financial Services with effect from July 25.

"This is to inform that in terms of clause 20 of the Scheme sanctioned by the NCLT, Mumbai bench, vide its order dated June 28, 2023 and pursuant to the certificate of incorporation issued by the Registrar of Companies, Mumbai dated July 25, 2023 the name of the Company stands changed from Reliance Strategic Investments Limited to “Jio Financial Services Limited” effective July 25, 2023," said Mukesh Ambani-led RIL in a stock exchange filing.

At 1425 hours on Wednesday, RIL's scrip on BSE was trading nearly 2% higher at Rs 2,532.45.

RIL recently demerged its financial services arm – Jio Financial Services. All Reliance shareholders will get Jio Financial Services shares in 1:1 ratio.

Jio Financial Services (JFS) has been valued at around $20 billion after its stock price was set at a much higher-than-expected Rs 261.85 in its demerger from Reliance Industries.

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The demerger, which was announced last October, is seen as oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance's way of expanding in the lucrative financial services sector, especially as it already has a non-bank financial company licence.

At a $20 billion valuation, Jio Financial would be one of the top 40 Indian companies by market capitalisation, in a list headed by Reliance at $233 billion.

In a first, last week, NSE and BSE held a special hour-long "pre-open call auction" trading session for Reliance to determine JFS' share price.

JFS will be included in major Indian indices, including the benchmark Nifty 50, but will not trade until it is listed, the date for which Reliance will likely set at its upcoming annual general meeting.

JFS' access to vast amounts of data from Reliance's telecom and retail businesses will also help it kick-start lending, analysts have said. Macquarie Research said JFS would likely be an AAA-rated entity that could borrow at attractive rates.

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