Balaji may offload 15% in motion pictures arm

Sources says the firm is in talks with a private equity investor

Balaji Telefilms, Ekta Kapoor-promoted production house, plans to offload 10-15 per cent stake in its wholly owned subsidiary Balaji Motion Pictures. Sources said the company is valued at Rs 1,000 crore. Centrum Finance is said to be the financial advisor to the company.

Sources added that the company is in talks with private equity investors. It is considering roping in only one private equity, instead of a cluster of investors. However, the plan is at a nascent stage.

Balaji Telefilms CEO R Karthik said, "We are adequately funded to take care of our needs. We are weighing various options to fund our future growth. However, it is premature at this stage to comment on any specific instrument."

Balaji Motion Pictures in the past has produced films such as Kya Kool Hai Hum, co-produced Shootout at Lokhandwala with Sanjay Gupta and Sanjay Dutt's banner White Feather Films.

It is working on a film, C Company, and a sequel to Kya Kool Hai Hum. It has a seven film co-production deal with Super Cassettes, four film deal with Suniel Shetty's Popcorn Entertainment (of which two are on the floor), one more film with White Feather Films.

The company is dabbling with movie distribution business as well, and has distributed Bhool Bhulaiya and Darling, among a few others.

Going forward, the company plans to produce, co-produce and distribute around 12 films a year. Balaji will look at distributing films overseas for which it will licence individuals in the US, the UK and West Asia who will facilitate the business, instead of setting shop in these places.

Ekta Kapoor has been a lucky mascot for Hindi general entertainment channels. Balaji's seven-year innings with Star Plus, and a year-old association with Zee TV and now once again with Sony Entertainment Television has been a money spinner most of the time.

Kapoor, which has been running several successful shows in Hindi, is also planning to venture into the south via a joint venture with Star India to launch regional language channels there.

About 51 per cent would be owned by Star, while the remaining will be held by Balaji. This apart, Star Group holds 26 per cent stake in Balaji Telefilms, while 40 per cent is held by the promoters (Kapoors).

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PICTURE PERFECT

Balaji Motion Pictures plans to produce, co-produce and distribute around 12 films a year

It is dabbling with movie distribution business as well

It has a seven film co-production deal with Super Cassettes, four-film deal with Suniel Shetty's Popcorn Entertainment (of which two are on the floor), one more film with White Feather Films