Ambani's Reliance in Talks to obtain Karan's Dharma Productions

Reliance Industries Ltd. is negotiating to buy a stake in Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, according to the reports. If the deal is finalized, it will strengthen Reliance’s position in India’s entertainment sector, enhancing its existing assets like Jio Studios and Viacom18 Studios. 

Dharma Productions majority of shares were owned by Karan Johar about 90.7 percent and rest 9.24 percent by his mother Hiro Johar, is currently seeking strategic partnerships, rejecting theater attendance and the growing popularity of OTT platforms have created challenges for Bollywood studios, looking for the need of fresh investments.

“Karan Johar has been exploring ways to monetize his stake for some time, but previous deals failed due to valuation issues,” a source familiar with past negotiations said,  

Reliance’s Portfolio

Reliance is showing interest in expanding its media presence through investments in entertainment companies. “In the past, RIL acquired a minority stake in Balaji. A similar structure could be pursued with Dharma,” said another source. 

RIL’s growing content portfolio already includes Jio Studios, Viacom18 Studios, Colosceum Media, and a minority stake in Balaji Telefilms. Jio Studios has emerged as a major player, obtaining a revenue of Rs 700 crore in box office collections in FY24. One of its co-productions, Stree 2, became the highest-grossing Hindi film ever, as per the report.   

 A media analyst explained that various production houses are now considering fundraising to cope with financial stress following the pandemic. “ A Stake sale could help Dharma transition from a personality-driven business to professionally managed company”. 

Dharma was recently stated to be in discussions with Saregama, a company backed by entrepreneur Sanjiv Goenka, for a possible majority stake sale. However, Saregama said in a stock exchange filing on October 8 that there were no important updates on the matter, the report added.