RIL to buy 5% stake in Eros International, form Rs 1,000 cr fund to co-produce content

New Delhi: Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Eros International PLC (Eros) on Tuesday announced that RIL, through a subsidiary, has agreed to subscribe to a 5 percent equity stake in Eros at a price of $15 per share. [caption id=“attachment_4272895” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, speaks at the Reliance Family Day event. YouTube screengrab[/caption] Furthermore, RIL and Eros International Media Ltd (Eros India) announced that they have agreed to partner in India to jointly produce and consolidate content from across the country. “The parties will equally invest up to Rs 1,000 crore in aggregate (approximately $150 million) to produce and acquire Indian films and digital originals across all languages,” the companies said in a joint-statement here. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory and other approvals. “We are pleased to join hands with Eros, as it will bring further synergies into our plans, making for a win-win partnership. We are delighted to welcome Jyoti Deshpande into the Reliance family and believe that she will not only give wings to our plans but also play a pivotal role in transforming the sector,” said Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, RIL. In addition, the companies announced that Jyoti Deshpande, Group CEO and MD of Eros will be stepping down from her executive role after more than 17 years and move on to head the Media and Entertainment business at RIL as President. Deshpande will start her role at RIL from April 2018, but will continue to remain as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Eros. Kishore Lulla will resume his position of Group Chairman and CEO of Eros. In her new role at RIL, Deshpande will lead the company’s initiatives in media and entertainment to organically build and grow businesses around the content ecosystem such as broadcasting, films, sports, music, digital, gaming and animation as well as integrate RIL’s existing media investments such as Viacom and Balaji Telefilms with a view to build, scale and consolidate the fragmented $20 billion Indian M&E sector, the statement added. (Disclosure: Firstpost is part of Network18 Media & Investment Limited which is owned by Reliance Industries Limited).