Saregama acquires majority stake in digital entertainment company Pocket Aces

Saregama has acquired a majority stake in Pocket Aces Pictures, a digital entertainment company with direct relationships to 95 million digital-first customers across Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms. Saregama will acquire 51.8 percent of the company's shares for approximately Rs 174 crores, with an option to acquire an additional 41 percent stake within the next 15 months at pre-agreed multiples. The transaction is an all-cash deal. This acquisition will help Saregama become a leader in the online video and content space in India, as well as a major player in the New Music industry across all Indian languages.

Pocket Aces, a Youth-focussed digital content creator and publisher, boasts of an IP catalog of over 3000 content pieces ranging across web series, sketches, music videos and reels on its channels FilterCopy, Nutshell and Gobble, and releases over 30 new pieces of content every day. The company’s talent management arm, Clout, manages over 100+ digital influencers, and its long-form studio, Dice Media, has created relatable youth-centric web series across OTT platforms such as Netflix, Hotstar, and Amazon.

Pocket Aces’ Revenue from operations was Rs 104 crore in FY23. Revenue has grown by 34% CAGR over the last 4 years.

Adding Pocket Aces will give Saregama a whole new dimension of IP and a distribution network of over 95 million followers, which it can use to further popularise its music library among the 18-35 audience segment. This will also create synergies across the artist management and long-format video creation businesses of the two companies.

Avarna Jain, vice chairperson Saregama said, "This acquisition signifies the confluence of tradition and innovation. While we have always been leaders in the realm of music and media, this partnership with Pocket Aces will add new dimensions to our business as we tap into the burgeoning young digital audiences."