Reliance Industries share price rallied marginally in trade on Friday after the company said it will buy a majority stake in the artificial intelligence (AI)-based education technology provider Indiavidual Learning Pvt Ltd (Embibe) from existing investors over the next three years, and will invest $180 million into the company over the next three years. Reacting to the news, the RIL stock gained 1 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 936.90 on the BSE. 

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In a filing to BSE, the Mukesh Ambani-led RIL said it has entered into agreements on April 12, 2018, to acquire 34,33,767 equity shares of Indiavidual Learning Private Ltd for cash consideration, translating to 72.69 per cent shareholding of Embibe on a fully diluted basis. Embibe is an emerging education technology provider incorporated in India in August, 2012, which will use the capital to deepen its research and development (RandD) on AI in the field of education, business growth and expanding geographical presence, catering to students across K-12, higher education, professional skilling, vernacular languages and all curriculum categories across India and abroad

"The investment in Embibe underlines Reliance's commitment to growing the education sector in India and the world and making education accessible to the widest possible group of students by deploying technology," said Akash Ambani, Director, Reliance Jio. 

"Reliance aims to connect over 1.9 million schools and 58,000 universities across India with technology," he added.

"With robust AI stacks focused on content intelligence and automation, behavioural recommendations and student intelligence, our products have redefined the way edtech can impact the lives of students and teachers," said Avasthi.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, while Citibank acted as the financial advisors, the release said.

AZB and Partners, Covington and Burling LLP and KPMG acted as legal advisors, while Pricewaterhouse Coopers provided tax advisory and diligence services to RIL, it added.

Reliance Industries is India’s largest private sector company in terms of market capitalisation. The company reported a consolidated turnover of Rs 330,180 crore ($50.9 billion), cash profit of Rs 42,800 crore ($6.6 billion),
and net profit of Rs 29,901 crore ($4.6 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2017.