Reliance Industries Ltd. has agreed to acquire a 24.9 percent stake in movie and television show maker Balaji Telefilms Ltd. for Rs 413 crore as the Mukesh Ambani-led company expands its footprint in the media business.
The company's board, on Thursday, approved the stake purchase in Ekta Kapoor-promoted Balaji Telefilms at Rs 164 per share, RIL said in an exchange notification. That's a 13.8 percent discount to Thursday's closing price. The deal, which is being managed by Axis Capital, is expected to be completed in the next 45-60 days.
Balaji Telefilms will issue 2.52 crore equity shares to RIL on a preferential basis.
The proceeds from the transaction would be used to further speed up content development initiatives, especially for ALT (its digital content platform), thereby providing it with a strong ability to compete with other OTT service providers – both global and Indian, Balaji Telefilms said in a separate media statement.
The Mukesh Ambani-led company's telecom arm Reliance Jio offers video on demand, Live TV and music streaming services to its customers in the country. It recently tied-up with streaming platform Hotstar.
RIL owns a majority stake in Network 18 Media & Investments Ltd. and its subsidiary TV18 Broadcast Ltd.
Also Read: RIL Surprises The Street For Eighth Straight Quarter
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