After weeks of a search for adding large shale gas assets, Reliance Industries still had surplus cash left over to decide on a new diversification for the group. Through its wholly owned subsidiary company Reliance Investments and Holdings , Reliance announced a $217 million deal or INR 1020 crore to buy a 14% stake in the most prestigious and most Indian of retail lifestyle and luxury hoteliering brands, the Oberois' East India Hotels.

Thanks to the purchase from Reliance and Mukesh Ambani, MAX's Analjit Singh can bid goodbye to their hotel ambitions, ITC have a reasonable stopper in acting against the existing promoters and the existing promoters now holding a commfortable 46% stake in the company can take it to a higher 52% in both EIH Hotels and EIH Associates that carry the mid market brands.  

ADAG group and Reliance have recently ben stopped from growing their own multiplex' franchise in the same manner with BIG watching as Inox and Fame made equity sales disregarding their ownership interest from ADAG. In the EIH case Mr Oberoi has seemingly been proactive to fend off a possible ownership play from ITC which owns 14.98% stake and can trigger an open offer any time while now Reliance would also be in play to trigger such an open offer with its purchase of a 14.1% stake at 33% premium to $4 per share where the shares were yesterday at $3 per share on the bourses. However as with Analjit Singh / Goldman's purchase of 4% last time their might be a plan to give Reliance management interest and say going forward as the next round of equity consolidation is played out in the company.

Max and Analjit Singh were to hold 26% in the final arrangement and a veto on the board (Bloomberg UTV) while here Reliance is already only INR 70 crore away from an open offer  based on this purchase price. Another 3.72 million shares added and Reliance would be announcing  an open offer, but more likely Oberois would be issuing more shares to themselves now that they have the money to buy a bigger stake in both EIH and EIH Associate Hotels 

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