Yash Chopra on IPO and other fund-raising options

Film production and distribution house Yash Raj Films is yet to take a call on an IPO, but it has nothing to do with the current market condition, says Yash Chopra, who spearheads YRF. He spoke to DNA Money’s Nivedita Mookerji and Nirmal John on the sidelines of the Frames conclave, which concluded on Thursday. Excerpts:


Is Yash Raj Films planning a joint venture with any of the international film studio banners?
Walt Disney is Yash Raj Films’ co-producer in the animation film Roadside Romeo, which is releasing on Diwali. This is the only international venture we have so far and we finalised it last year.

Any plans to strike an alliance with a foreign partner?
As of now, there are no international ventures. It’s true that people are talking to us. But unless something is finalised, I can’t talk about it.

What’s the news on the IPO front?
There’s no decision on an IPO yet. The IPO buzz is only a conjecture. This year we have five films, next year we want to raise the figure to 7-8 films. If need be, we may go for an IPO. If not, we won’t.

Are you waiting for the markets to recover in a big way?
A couple of months ago, the markets were all right. Yet, we did not go for an IPO. It’s important for us to make up our own minds on whether to go for an IPO or not.
At this point, we have not made up our minds to go for an IPO.

Is there any other fund-raising route that you are looking at? There were talks about private-equity firm Blackstone striking a joint venture with the Yash Raj group. Isn’t it?
The Blackstone buzz was mainly because people saw me with Akhil Gupta, the India head of Blackstone. It was not about business. I’ve known him very well for many years.

Is there any other private-equity deal expected soon?
People do approach us, but we have not taken a decision on such things. At present, I want to concentrate only on making movies.

How are you raising funds?
All from internal accruals.

Do you have any overseas expansion plans?
No. We have operations in the UK, US, Canada and Dubai, besides India. We don’t want to go to small territories.

Does your home entertainment division have any plans to reduce prices of DVDs, CDs and VCDs?
No, I think we want to respect our product.

Do you face competition from the likes of Moser Baer (which sells DVDs at Rs 34)?
Yes, the competition is huge and serious. But the prices are not an ego question. It is about business and marketing strategy. Each one makes his own choice based on that strategy.


(DNA)