Saregama acquires 51.8% stake in Pocket Aces for Rs 174 crore

Saregama has acquired a majority stake in Pocket Aces.

As per the deal, Saregama will acquire 51.8% shares for approximately Rs 174 crore. It will acquire another 41% stake in the next 15 months at pre-agreed multiples.

The transaction is an all-cash deal.

The company said that the acquisition will further strengthen Saregama’s strategic ambition to take a leadership position in new music across all Indian languages. 

Pocket Aces, a Youth-focussed digital content creator and publisher, boasts of an IP catalogue of over 3,000 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. 

Saregama shared that Pocket Aces’ revenue has grown by 34% CAGR over the last four years.

The company statement read, “Acquiring Pocket Aces will add on a whole 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. It will also create synergies across the artiste and influencer 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."