Reliance Industries announced the induction of Saudi Aramco chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan as an independent director to its board, a move that signals the deal between the two companies is back on track.
Al-Rumayyan will replace YP Trivedi on the board, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani said at the company’s AGM on Thursday.
“Shri YP Trivedi has expressed his desire to retire from the board. It is my duty to place on record our sincerest thanks to Shri Y P Trivedi. He joined our Board at the request of our Founder Dhirubhai Ambani in 1992. On behalf of the entire Board and the shareholders, I would like to thank him from the bottom of all our hearts for his wise counsel and sage advice for nearly 30 years,” he said.
Amabani said he was delighted to announce that Al-Rumayyan, who is also the governor of the Public Investment Fund, will join the Board of Reliance Industries Limited as an Independent Director, adding that he is one of the most renowned names in energy finance and technology globally. “I am sure that we will immensely benefit from his rich experience with one of the world's largest companies, and also one of the largest Sovereign Wealth Funds in the world.”
The 20 percent stake sale by the Indian conglomerate in its oil-to-chemical business had stalled due to the pandemic. RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani announced the deal at the 2019 annual general meeting (AGM), valuing the entire business at a whopping $75 billion.
“The demand and margin environment for petrochemicals had recovered to pre-COVID levels by March. I am confident that our O2C business will benefit from the strong global growth environment. As an important part of this vision of achieving accelerated growth, we look forward to welcoming Saudi Aramco as a strategic partner in our O2C business,” Ambani said.
The deal is a win-win for both companies. RIL, which is diversifying aggressively into retail and digital segments, gets the world’s biggest oil producer Aramco as a strategic partner and the Middle East giant gets a stake in one of the world’s best refineries and the largest integrated petrochemical complex.
At the AGM, Ambani said Al-Rumayyan’s induction into the board is also the beginning of internationalisation of Reliance. “You will hear more about our international plans in the times to come.”
So what do we know about the latest entrant in the RIL board?
A CLOSER LOOK AT YASIR AL-RUMAYYAN
As chairman of energy behemoth Saudi Aramco and Governor of the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, which has assets in excess of $400 bn, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, 51, is one of the most influential and widely respected business & investment figures in the regime of crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
Al-Rumayyan’s experience spans over 25 years where he has worked with key financial institutions in Saudi Arabia, including banks, regulators and stock exchanges.
Sample this.
He began his career at the Saudi Hollandi Bank, where he occupied crucial positions in various departments. In 2004, he joined the Capital Market Authority as part of the founding team and was appointed Director of the Corporate Finance and Issuance Division in 2008.
From 2011 until January 2015 he was the CEO and a Board member of Saudi Fransi Capital, a leading financial services provider present in investment banking, asset management and debt & equity research.
Additionally, from 2014 to 2015 , Al-Rumayyan, who holds a bachelor degree in accounting from King Faisal University and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s General Management Program, was a board member of Tadawul, the Saudi Stock Exchange.
That’s not all. He is also the Chairman of the Decision Support Center ( which focuses on applied research and technology capabilities) and an advisor to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia.
DOES AL-RUMAYYAN HAVE GLOBAL CHOPS AS A BOARD MEMBER?
Oh yes, he does. For more than 5 years ( since June 2016) he has been a board member on ride hailing giant Uber Technologies. He was also a board director in Japanese tech conglomerate Softbank Group for more than 3 years between June 2017 and November 2020. He is also a director with British semi-conductor and software design company ARM. This varied background and Al-Rumayyan’s network will be useful as Reliance Jio looks to take bigger strides in the digital economy.
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