Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries invests over Rs. 400 crore in Ekta Kapoor's Balaji

The content creating giant plans to utilise the money to grow its digital platform ALT Balaji.

Following is the notification sourced from the official website of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The Board of Directors of Balaji Telefilms has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that in its meeting held today (July 20, 2017) considered and approved an investment by Reliance Industries Limited ("RIL") through a preferential issue of 2,52,00,000 equity shares at Rs. 164 each, aggregating to INR 413.28 crores, subject to necessary shareholder and other approvals.

L to R: Jeetendra Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor and Mukesh AmbaniBalaji telefilms is an entertainment content producer operating across television, movie and digital platforms. The Company has recently launched ALTBalaji ('ALT'), a multi-device subscription video on demand platform, which offers original content for a global digital audience.

This 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. The proceeds from the transaction will be utilised to speed up content development initiatives, especially for ALT, thereby providing it with a strong ability to compete with other OTT service providers - both global and Indian.

Commenting on the transaction, Jeetendra Kapoor, Chairman, Balaji Telefilms says in the media statement, "We welcome Reliance Industries Limited as a partner in our growth journey towards becoming the preferred content producer for the Indian diaspora across all means of video consumption and across all geographies. This investment is a vote of confidence to the company's strategic move to own our IP and our viewers. I would like to congratulate Ekta and the entire Balaji team on this early success and am sure that they will continue to take the company forward from strength to strength. I would also like to thank Axis Capital for its valuable and unwavering support over the years. They have visualised and facilitated this important investment which will help us become one of the leading content players globally."

Axis Capital Limited acted as the sole investment banker for this transaction.