<\/p>\n
\n\tUniversal Music<\/a> India has taken a significant minority stake in leading Indian production banner Excel Entertainment<\/a>, deepening its push into India\u2019s fastest-growing entertainment market and forging a new pipeline between the country\u2019s local film content and global music distribution.<\/p>\n \n\tThe deal, unveiled on Monday, values Excel at \u20b92,400 crore (approximately $290 million). Under the agreement, Universal Music India \u2014 a division of Universal Music Group<\/a> \u2014 will acquire a 30 percent equity interest, while partnering with the Mumbai-based studio across film, series, music and emerging formats. The two companies described the pact as a strategic alliance designed to accelerate Excel\u2019s growth while strengthening UMG\u2019s position in India\u2019s music-driven screen economy.<\/p>\n \n\tAs part of the collaboration, UMG will receive global distribution rights for all future original soundtracks attached to projects produced or controlled by Excel. The companies will also launch a dedicated Excel music label, distributed worldwide by UMG, while Universal Music Publishing Group becomes Excel\u2019s exclusive publishing partner \u2014 opening the door for UMG and Universal Music India artists to appear across Excel titles.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThis partnership with UMG marks a pivotal step in our journey to broaden creative opportunities and tell Indian stories with a global lens,\u201d said Excel CEO Vishal Ramchandani. \u201cWith a shared vision for innovation and excellence, we aim to transform Excel into a creative global studio \u2014 one that brings clutter-breaking, original content to audiences across platforms and geographies.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tRitesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, who co-founded Excel in 1999 and will continue to steer its creative direction, framed the alliance as a moment to leverage international<\/a> collaboration at a time when India\u2019s content industries are expanding rapidly. UMG, meanwhile, will gain a seat on Excel\u2019s board through Devraj Sanyal, chairman and CEO of Universal Music India & South Asia<\/a> and senior vp of strategy for Africa, the Middle East and Asia.<\/p>\n \n\tUMG executives said the pact positions the company at the earliest stages of Excel\u2019s development pipeline \u2014 especially around music-led projects \u2014 in a market where film soundtracks remain central to listening habits and often enjoy extensive replay life. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cToday\u2019s announcement further strengthens UMG\u2019s position in India, a dynamic and strategically important music market for the group globally,\u201d said Adam Granite, CEO of UMG\u2019s Africa, Middle East and Asia division. \u201cOriginal soundtracks remain at the heart of India\u2019s fast-growing music market, with Indian listeners showing a growing desire to access more music in that genre. By investing in and partnering with Excel Entertainment, UMG will be uniquely positioned to contribute from the earliest stage to Excel\u2019s future endeavours and throughout the creative process, providing huge benefits to both parties.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFounded with the breakout success of Dil Chahta Hai <\/em>in 2001, Excel has built one of India\u2019s most recognizable production brands, spanning theatrical films and streaming series. Its slate includes titles such as Lakshya<\/em>, Don<\/em>, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara<\/em>, Fukrey<\/em>, Dil Dhadakne Do<\/em> and Gully Boy<\/em>, alongside streaming successes including Inside Edge<\/em>, Mirzapur<\/em>, Made in Heaven<\/em>, Dahaad<\/em> and the recent Netflix project Dabba Cartel.<\/em> The company\u2019s projects have earned both commercial traction and some festival recognition, with appearances at Cannes, Berlin and Toronto.<\/p>\n \n\tFor UMG, the investment comes amid strong structural growth in India, ranked the world\u2019s 15th-largest recorded-music market, with its uncommonly tight link between screen content and soundtrack performance. The companies cited the country\u2019s more than 375 million OTT viewers and roughly 650 million smartphone users as indicators of future upside \u2014 alongside the cultural staying power of widely replayed film music.<\/p>\n \n\tFinancial advisors on the transaction included Morgan Stanley for Excel, with legal counsel provided by AZB & Partners for UMG and Khaitan & Co for Excel. Ernst & Young and KPMG acted as transaction advisors.<\/p>\n \n\tBoth parties said the partnership is intended to create new revenue streams and cross-platform opportunities while expanding the global reach of Indian stories and artists. Details on the new Excel music label and forthcoming soundtracks will be announced in the months ahead, they said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.hollywoodreporter.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Universal Music India has taken a significant minority stake in leading Indian production banner Excel Entertainment, deepening its push into India\u2019s fastest-growing entertainment market and forging a new pipeline between the country\u2019s local film content and global music distribution. The deal, unveiled on Monday, values Excel at \u20b92,400 crore (approximately $290 million). Under the agreement, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2222581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[28008,24379,46171],"class_list":["post-2222580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-asia","tag-international","tag-universal-music-group"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Universal-Music-Buys-30-Percent-Stake-in-Indias-Excel-Entertainment.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2222580"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2222582,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222580\/revisions\/2222582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2222581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2222580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2222580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2222580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}