Dar MentorCap seeks SEBI nod under alternative investment funds guidelines

MUMBAI: Dar MentorCap Film Fund, jointly promoted by Dar Media, a Mumbai-based film production and distribution firm, and MentorCap Management, an investment advisory firm, has sought Sebi approval under the new alternative investment funds (AIF) guidelines.

India's first film fund will be launched with an initial corpus of 100-crore and will have a five-year tenure, with a liquidation option for investors after three years.

Among the partners at the fund are Arun Rangachari of Dar Media and Shailesh Haribhakti. Rangachari said he expects to close the fund by the first quarter of 2013. In Hollywood, a lot of funding for films comes from private equity houses and hedge funds. Film funds play a role in channelizing institutional and other non-film industry linked funds into the value system.

For Dar, while the focus will be on films, the fund will invest in a diversified slate of projects ranging between 3 crore to 20 crore with a minimum investment size of 25% in each film project.