The Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries (RIL) is reportedly in discussions to acquire a stake in celebrated Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar’s film production company, Dharma Productions.
If successful, the deal would strengthen the oil-to-telecom giant’s foothold in India’s content production sector.
Details regarding the exact size of the stake under negotiation or the valuation, however, remain unclear, The Economic Times (ET) reported.
Johar currently owns 90.7 per cent of Dharma Productions, with the remaining 9.24 per cent held by his mother, Hiroo Johar.
The production house has a strong track record, having produced numerous Bollywood box office-hit films.
Johar has reportedly been seeking to monetise his stake in his production firm for a while, but previous deals failed due to differences over valuation, the report said citing an unnamed source.
If the reported acquisition move succeeds, it would enhance Reliance’s media and content portfolio, which already includes Jio Studios, Viacom18 Studios, Colosceum Media, and a minority stake in Balaji Telefilms.
Jio Studios, now India’s largest film studio, posted box office collections of INR 7 billion in FY24.
Its co-production with Maddock Films, Stree 2, has emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film of all time.
In FY23, Dharma Productions saw its revenue increase nearly fourfold to INR 10.40 billion, as against INR 2.76 billion in the previous year.
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