Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries looks to acquire stake in Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions amid OTT boom: Report

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) is negotiating to buy a stake in Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, according to a report by Economic Times. The deal, if finalized, will strengthen Reliance’s position in India’s entertainment sector, complementing its existing assets like Jio Studios and Viacom18 Studios.

Dharma Productions, owned 90.7 per cent by Karan Johar and 9.24% by his mother, Hiroo Johar, is actively seeking strategic partnerships. Rising production costs, declining theater attendance, and the growing popularity of over-the-top (OTT) platforms have created challenges for Bollywood studios, driving the need for fresh investments, as per the ET report.

Livemint could not independently verify this news development.

“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, as quoted by Economic Times.

Reliance’s portfolio

Reliance has shown 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, as quoted by Economic Times.

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, earning ₹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 several 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 a professionally managed company,” the analyst said, as quoted by Economic Times.

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