Vistas Media set to buy Reliance Entertainment

Singapore-based media content and technology firm Vistas Media Capital (VMC) is in the final stages of acquiring Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Entertainment in a deal valued at `800 crore, according to sources in the know.

But Reliance Entertainment, which last produced the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Amar Singh Chamkila, the second-most viewed Indian film on Netflix in the June quarter after Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, has been looking at a buyer for some time, according to media industry sources. Calls and text messages to Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibasish Sarkar remained unanswered at the time of going to press.Sarkar, who is also the chairman & CEO of International Media Acquisition Corp (IMAC), a special purpose acquisition company, in the past had tried to acquire Reliance Entertainment from Ambani for around `800 crore, but failed to generate enough interest from investors, informed sources told FE.

Reliance Entertainment was also recently in the news for its dispute with T-Series to share 50% of its profits from Amar Singh Chamkila with the latter. T-Series had reportedly provided a loan of `268 crore to Reliance Entertainment for the production of 11 films. Alleging default, T-Series had asserted its right to lien and charge over Reliance Entertainment’s films, moving the Delhi High Court.Some of Reliance Entertainment’s past-produced movies include Ranveer Singh-starrer ’83, Vikram Vedha, starring Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan, and Cirkus, also starring Singh. Some of its upcoming projects include Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Section 84 and Singham Again, which will feature Ajay Devgn, Deepika Padukone and Tiger Shroff, among others.

For VMC, meanwhile, the Reliance Entertainment acquisition is expected to bolster its India presence in film production. The company is into content production and distribution across platforms, gaming, animation and streaming services. Co-founded by Abhayanand Singh and Piiyush Singh, both non-resident Indians, who are the group CEO and group COO of VMC, the firm first came into the limelight in 2020, when it acquired a strategic stake in Planet Marathi, an over-the-top platform popular in Maharashtra, for $5 million (`40 crore). The company then roped in former Viacom18 COO Raj Nayak as an advisor on its board to get a deeper insight into the country’s media and entertainment industry.

In 2021, VMC acquired a majority stake in Paperboat Design Studios, an animation and design company based in Mumbai, for an undisclosed amount. In November 2023, Kitara Capital, a global investment group based in West Asia with diverse investments in India, formed a joint venture (JV) with Vistas Media’s content division in Abu Dhabi. Financial Express