MUMBAI: In the wake of increasing number of companies getting listed on the bourses, Venus Records and Tapes Pvt Ltd too has now joined the bandwagon. The company is all set to list on the Bombay Stock Exchange later this year with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Rs 5 billion (Rs 500 crores).
Speaking exclusively to Businessofcinema.com, Venus Records and Tapes founder Ganesh Jain says, “We we are planning to launch an IPO of approximately Rs 500 crore by this year end. Currently, the paperwork for the same is going on.”
The development comes following Venus’ fallout with the Zee Network, which had taken a 60 per cent stake in the company last year.
The last film produced by Venus was Aap Ki Khatir, which released in 2006, after which the company has been lying low and has not made any film announcements.
However, plans are now being firmed up for a number of movies. The company has taken its first step towards that by signing directors like Abbas Mastan, Priyadarshan, David Dhawan and Sanjay Chel. “Talks are on with some more directors too. By December we aim to have six – seven films on floor,” informs Jain.
Venus has an output deal with Shyam Bajaj and Narendra Bajaj’s jointly owned Siddhi Vinayak Creations, wherein the films produced by the Bajajs are presented and distributed by Venus.
Forthcoming films under this deal includes Aggar starring Tushar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade and Udita Gosawmi, directed by Anant Mahadevan, which will release on 14 September and the Fardeen Khan-Kunal Khemu starrer Jai Veeru, which is directed by Punit Sera.
Also, earlier this year Venus inked a three-year output deal with Eros International, as per which Eros would be a co-producer and own entire copyright of Venus’ films for distribution across all formats. Two projects with Abbas Mastan and Priyadarshan were said to be underway. However now that Venus is launching its own IPO, Jain is not certain about the extension of this deal.
