Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday the proposed reorganisation plan by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to transfer its refining, marketing and petrochemical (oil-to-chemicals) businesses to a wholly-owned subsidiary as a step towards facilitating participation by strategic investors in its O2C businesses. We anticipate the reorganisation will have a neutral impact on RIL s credit metrics and rating, it said.
The transfer will be on a slump sale basis subject to attaining the requisite approvals. The consideration for transfer will be in the form of long-term interest-bearing debt of 25 billion dollars to be issued by O2C to RIL.
RIL s external debt is proposed to remain with RIL only. As RIL moves its oil refining, petrochemical and 51 per cent stake in a fuel retail subsidiary among other businesses to O2C, it will continue to hold businesses like textiles and upstream oil & gas, and will act as an incubator for new growth businesses.