Wednesday, December 28 2005 18:17 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: After the hiving off of RIL's investment in communication, financial and power sectors as part of a settlement, Anil Ambani's group today (Dec 28, 2005) announced its intention to merge two of the newly created entities with Reliance Capital and Reliance Energy.

The Boards of Reliance Capital and Reliance Energy will meet on January 2 and 3 respectively to consider merger of Reliance Capital Ventures Ltd and Reliance Energy Ventures Ltd with them, RCL and REL informed stock exchanges.

This merger is being done as part of efforts to enable RIL's shareholders to have a direct stake in the two listed entities of the Anil Ambani group instead of routing through the new special purpose vehicles that are being created to effect the settlement between him and elder brother Mukesh, sources in the know of the development said.

Reliance Energy Ventures, Reliance Capital Ventures, Reliance Communications Ventures and Global Fuel Management Services Ltd were the four companies that were created after the demerger of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries.

Before any merger, the four new entities would be listed on stock exchanges by March next year. The ADAE is considering applying to SEBI and stock exchanges to list the shares of four companies in bourses without making a public offer.

The amalgamation, if approved by the Boards, would be subject to all requisite permissions, sanctions and approvals including the approval by the shareholders,

Shares of Reliance Capital ended lower by one per cent at Rs 435.75 while that of Reliance Energy declined 0.92 per cent to close at Rs 595.65 at the Bombay Stock Exchange today.