Reliance Acquires Majority Equity Stake in skyTran Inc.

The business ventures subsidiary of Reliance, RSBVL, announced on Sunday that it has acquired a majority stake in skyTran Inc.. Interestingly, the latter company is a transport tech company from Delaware, US.

Details of the Reliance Transaction

RSBVL already had a stake in the company from Delaware. In this transaction, the RIL subsidiary has bought additional stake worth $26.76 million. As a result, their share will rise to a sole majority at 54.46% on a fully diluted basis.

Covington & Burling LLP and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP were the legal and IP counsel to Reliance Industries Limited in the purchase of the stake.

The New Company in the Reliance Umbrella

skyTran Inc. is a firm based in Delaware. Incorporated in 2011, the company has made progress in Maglev based transportation. For instance, they are aiming to create personal transportation systems using passive maglev technology. Global traffic congestion is a big issue and skyTran Inc has plans to introduce passenger pods running on magnetic rails, levitating like the maglev trains in Japan and China. Therefore, the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate is looking at the future with this one to expand into futuristic personal and public transport.

skyTran are calling their technology Smart Mobility Solutions. Aforementioned transportation systems would consist of computer-controlled passenger pods. These pods will make use of the state-of-the-art, patented Passive Magnetic Levitation technology. For the same purpose, they propose to use cutting edge tech such as IT, Telecom, loT and Advanced Materials technologies so that it can transport passengers in a fast, safe, green, and economical manner. Notably, there is support from global venture capital investors such as Innovation Endeavors.

Reaction from the people at Reliance

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and MD at RIL, noted that the company was aligned to make "futuristic technology that will change the world". Furthermore, Ambani said that skyTran has potential to achieve "an order of magnitude impact" on high-speed transportation technology. Also, he envisioned a "transportation-as-a-service" platform for India and the world as a whole.

This development comes at a very opportune time for Reliance Industries Limited. Interestingly, plans are already moving forward high-speed railway in the country.

Reliance is certainly capable of catering to skyTran's Telecom, IoT and IT requirements. It will be intriguing to see how this partnership bears fruit as skyTran will fast-track the development of high-speed connectivity within cities.