Key Highlights

• Reliance, via Siddhant Commercials, offloaded 3.64% stake (~3.5 crore shares) in Asian Paints for ₹7,703 crore.
• SBI Mutual Fund bought entire block, increasing its holding to over 5%, signaling strong institutional interest.

In an open market deal, Reliance Industries, under the leadership of Mukesh Ambani, sold SBI Mutual Fund a 3.64% stake in Asian Paints for Rs 7,703 crore.

Reliance Industries sold 3.50 crore equity shares, or 3.64% of the company's stock, through its affiliate Siddhant Commercials Pvt Ltd, according to block deal data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The shares were sold for a total of Rs 7,703.50 crore, with an average price of Rs 2,201 per share. The stake sale caused Siddhant Commercials, a division of RIL, to reduce its ownership of Asian Paints from 4.90 percent to 1.26 percent.

With the acquisition of shares, SBI Mutual Fund's stake in Asian Paints increased to 5.15 percent from 1.51 percent. Asian Paints' shares rose 0.73 percent to close at Rs 2,225 on the NSE.

Reliance Industries Limited said in a regulatory filing, "Please take note that 3.50 crore equity shares of Asian Paints held by Siddhant Commercials Limited were sold today at Rs 2,201 per share, leaving a balance of 87 lakh equity shares of Asian Paints."

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For Rs 500 crore, RIL purchased a 4.9% share in Asian Paints through its subsidiary during the global financial crisis and Lehman Brothers' demise in January 2008. Media reports claim that during the past two years, Asian Paints' stock has dropped by 30%.