Reliance Entertainment - George Soros picks up stake

George Soros has picked up 3% stake in Reliance Entertainment for $100 million (Rs 400 crore). The stake sale puts the value of the company at around $3 billion (approximately Rs 12,000 crore).

Reliance Entertainment is the flagship and umbrella entertainment company of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and 100% owned by Anil Ambani.

Reliance Entertainment has three main lines of business - Internet and new media, film entertainment and TV broadcasting.

A Reliance Entertainment spokesperson confirmed the development, and added: "We are delighted to have a sophisticated investor like George Soros as a stakeholder in the company that operates in a high growth and high potential entertainment sector offering a complete bouquet of innovative products and services to its audience."

Reliance Entertainment, under its Internet and new media initiatives, has already launched a number of ventures: Zapak, a gaming portal; Big Adda, a social network and social media venture; Big Flicks, an online and offline movie rentals business; and Jump Mobile, a mobile entertainment venture.

The company has signed up frontline directors like Farhan Akhtar - for an estimated Rs 300 crore for six films - Madhur Bhandarkar and Vivek Agnihotri for production. It has recently acquired controlling stake in India's largest production studio - ND Studio. It has also initiated allied ventures such as Big Music (music CDs), Home Video(video) and animation & special effects.