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Saregama acquires majority stake in digital entertainment company Pocket Aces
- Saregama will acquire 51.8% shares for ₹174 crore with a clear path to further acquire another 41% stake in the next 15 months at pre-agreed multiples
RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group-owned music label Saregama has acquired a majority stake in digital entertainment company Pocket Aces Pictures Pvt Ltd, the company said in a statement. Saregama will acquire 51.8% shares for ₹174 crore with a clear path to further acquire another 41% stake in the next 15 months at pre-agreed multiples. The transaction is an all-cash deal.
This acquisition will further strengthen Saregama’s strategic ambition to take the leadership position in new music across all Indian languages, the statement added.
Pocket Aces is a youth-focused digital content creator and publisher, with an IP catalogue of over 3,000 content pieces ranging from web series and sketches to music videos and reels on its channels FilterCopy, Nutshell and Gobble. The company’s talent management arm, Clout, manages over 100 digital influencers, and its long-form studio, Dice Media, has created web series for OTT platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, and Amazon Prime Video. Pocket Aces’ revenue from operations stood at ₹104 crore in FY23.
Acquiring Pocket Aces will add a new dimension of IP and a distribution network of over 95 million followers, which Saregama will leverage to further popularize its music library among the 18-35 audience segment, the company said. It will also create synergies across the artiste and influencer management and long-format video creation businesses of the two companies, the statement added.
“This acquisition signifies the confluence of tradition and innovation. This partnership with Pocket Aces will add new dimensions to our business as we tap into the burgeoning young digital audiences,” Avarna Jain, vice chairperson, Saregama, said in the statement.
According to a recent Mint report, Saregama is betting big on live shows and concerts to improve the monetisation opportunities for of its owned intellectual properties. The music label, which has a vast library of Hindi original songs is planning more live musical shows based on these soundtracks and by acquiring rights to the movies these songs were featured in, to draw up storylines for the shows.
The company is also planning new versions of Carvaan, its wireless speakers. The product has seen success with Carvaan Mini Kids, Carvaan Bhagavad Gita and Carvaan Mobile, and is working on more variants to cater to niche audience segments.
The company has released albums of Hindi film titles such as Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani, and Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan-starrer Zara Hat Ke Zara Bach Ke, over the past few months. In the south, it is collaborating on projects with Suriya, Mammootty and Mohanlal.
On the film side, however, Yoodlee Films, the movie production arm of Saregama, is focusing solely on regional cinema, primarily Malayalam and Punjabi, but also Tamil and Telugu.
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Business NewsCompaniesNewsSaregama acquires majority stake in digital entertainment company Pocket Aces
First Published:28 Sep 2023, 08:22 PM IST
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