Adar Poonawalla owner of Serum Institute of India the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer is ready to enter into a whole new sector. His company is set to become a part of the entertainment industry. As per reports Poonawalla is planning to acquire a 50 percent stake in Bollywood director and producer Karan Johar’s company Dharma Productions. He will pay Rs. 1000 crore for the deal. Notably the current value of Dharma Productions and its television production is Rs. 2000 crore. Poonawalla’s company Serene Productions will acquire the 50 percent stake while the remaining 50 percent will be with Karan Johar. Johar will remain the Executive Chairman of the company while Apoorva Mehta will continue as the CEO. Karan Johar has 90.7 percent stakeof Dharma Productions and his mother Hiroo Johar has 9.24%. Why Karan Johar Is Selling 50% Stake Of Dharma Productions? Many are curious as to why Karan Johar is selling 50 percent of his company. Could it be that Dharma Productions is planning something new? These queries come into sharper focus especially because the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in inflated movie budgets yet drastically reduced earnings. Several films didnt quite hit the mark at the box office causing massive impact in the industry. Focusing on Dharma Productions it seems there was a considerable dip in profits about 60 percent in fiscal year 2023 with the costs rising by more than quadruple. This raises concerns and demands a closer look into why Karan Johar felt it necessary to sell a slice of Dharma Productions. Why Was This Deal Made? As per media reports Karan Johar was looking for a partner to assist with film production while retaining creative control to himself. Poonawallas investment will provide financial backing to Johar’s production house to start new projects.Long Search For A Partner Karan Johar had been searching for a partner for quite some time. He reportedly had talks with Saregama’s Sanjiv Goenka and also met some of the country’s big conglomerates and industrialists. Media reports also suggest that Johar had a talk with Reliance Industries. On the other hand Poonawalla has not just limited his vision to the pharmaceutical industry. He has been actively exploring prospects in various other fields in the recent past. His investments are far-reaching cutting across sectors from real estate and hospitality to even financial services. Declining Profits Dharma Productions made quite a financial splash in the 2023 fiscal year as they saw their revenue leap to an impressive Rs. 1040 crore a noticeable increase from the previous years Rs. 276 crore. However it wasnt all smooth-sailing. Costs climbed alongside the profits ballooning 4.5 times to Rs. 1028 crore according to Tofler. This led to the net profit taking a hit tumbling down 59% to a meager Rs. 11 crore. On an upbeat note distribution rights contributed a hefty Rs. 656 crore digital rights pitched in Rs. 140 crore satellite rights pulled in Rs. 83 crore and music rights chimed in with Rs. 75 crore in 2023. Back in 2022 however these areas had raked in just Rs. 19 crore Rs. 167 crore Rs. 34 crore and Rs. 21 crore respectively.