Balaji Telefilms soars 9% as RIL buys 25% stake

NEW DELHI: Shares of Balaji Telefilms surged nearly 9 per cent in Friday’s trade after Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries bought 24.9 per cent stake in the media company for Rs 413.28 crore.

Following the announcement, the stock climbed 8.76 per cent to hit a high of Rs 203 on BSE, eventually closing at 187.50, up 0.46 per cent.

The transaction values the company at Rs 1,650 crore, compared with the prevailing m-cap of Rs 1,470 crore.

RIL and Balaji Telefilms announced on Thursday that the former will pick up 2.52 crore preferential shares of Balaji Telefilms at Rs 164 apiece, making a total investment of Rs 413.28 crore.

Balaji Telefilms, which has launched an over-the-top (OTT) service Alt Balaji earlier this year, will use the funds to speed up content development initiatives, especially for ALT, ET reported.

Balaji Telefilms said that the transaction marks a landmark event for the Indian OTT industry and is expected to further accelerate the growing trend of media consumption ‘on-the-go’.