Production house Bodhi Tree Multimedia lists on NSE Emerge

MUMBAI: Mumbai-based content company Bodhi Tree Multimedia, which produces content for television, films and digital platforms, has become the first production house to enter the capital markets in over a decade.

Founded in 2013 by Mautik Tolia and Sukesh Motwani, Bodhi Tree raised Rs 3.71 crore from its SME initial public offering and listed its shares on NSE Emerge.

NSE Emerge is an initiative by the National Stock Exchange for small and medium-sized enterprises and start-up companies from India.

Production houses, including Balaji Telefilms, BAG Films and Media, Creative Eye and others were listed in the early 2000s.

“As we focus on growing our business profitably and prudently, listing on NSE Emerge gives us a unique opportunity. It gives further credibility, funds and flexibility to invest and create our own IPs,” Tolia, managing director, Bodhi Three Multimedia, told ET.

After listing on the SME platform, within two years the company can list on the main board of NSE, Tolia added.

Since its inception, Bodhi Tree has produced shows for all the major general entertainment channels, including Star Plus, Zee TV, Sony Entertainment Television and Colors, as well as for video streaming services like Voot and Viu.

So far, it has produced over 30 shows with 1000+ hours of content, including ‘Nisha aur Uska Cousin’, ‘Yeh Hai Ashiqui’, ‘Fear Files’, ‘Marzi’, and ‘Raikar Case’.

The company will use Rs 2.5 crore from the proceeds for working capital and Rs 50 lakh for general corpus fund.

It offered 390,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a fixed price of Rs 95 per share in its maiden IPO.

Tolia said that the issue was oversubscribed and the promoters have divested 31.2% stake in the company.

Bodhi Tree posted consolidated revenue of Rs 27.45 crore and a net profit of Rs 3.66 crore for the financial year 2019-20.

For the first five months of the current fiscal, Bodhi Tree has reported a revenue of Rs 4.86 crore and net profit of Rs 0.32 crore. However, trade receivables and payables outstanding were at Rs 4.65 crore and Rs 5.32 crore, respectively, which Tolia said is not a concern.

“All our clients are marquee broadcasters and OTT players. Now that the markets are easing up and ad spends are increasing, they will also start paying. There is on concern with receivables,” he said.

As per Tolia, the entertainment industry has the distinction of not only qualifying as a recession proof sector, but also as a sector with enormous growth potential.

“As an established player… Bodhi Tree continues to demonstrate its resilience in a challenging market. Operating in the entertainment industry with a potential to grow exponentially in the years ahead, we are all geared to capitalise on this exponential growth potential,” he added.