Reliance stock hogs limelight

New Delhi: Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) continued to move higher on Monday and closed with a gain of nearly two per cent after the company said its subsidiary has acquired a majority stake in genomic testing firm Strand Life Sciences Pvt Ltd for Rs 393 crore.

The stock jumped 3.83 per cent to its all-time high of Rs 2,479.85 during the day on the BSE. It closed at Rs 2,424.55, a jump of 1.52 per cent. On the NSE, it gained 1.69 per cent to close at Rs 2,429. In traded volume terms, 6.02 lakh shares were traded at the BSE and over 1.55 crore shares at the NSE during the day.

On Friday, the market-heavyweight stock had jumped 4.12 per cent to close at Rs 2,388.25 on the BSE. Market valuation of Reliance Industries Limited jumped to a record Rs15 lakh crore on Friday, becoming the first domestic company to attain this historic feat. The acquisition by Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd (RSBVL) is part of Reliance's digital health initiatives, 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.