The plans of Shibasish Sarkar, former chief executive of Reliance Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, to acquire the film studio from businessman Anil Ambani, have run into troubled waters. Sarkar, who set up International Media Acquisition Corp (IMAC)—a special purpose acquisition company—and raised $230 million from a Nasdaq listing, has so far, failed to generate interest among investors for the Reliance content portfolio. TRENDING STORIES See All Premium How can legal heirs obtain ownership on a property? Premium UPI linked to Singapore’s PayNow for fast transfers Premium Five interesting stocks from TIA’s 20-20 Ideas Summit Premium PLI scheme helps start production of 22 key bulk drugs To make matters worse, the last few films from the studio — ‘83, Vikram Vedha and Cirkus — failed at the box office, and trade experts aren’t particularly buoyed by the future pipeline of movies announced as part of its recent deal with T-Series. The lineup neither features bankable stars nor does it include big directors, the experts say. Also, the future of the theatrical business remains uncertain despite the easing of the pandemic, which has led Reliance Entertainment to announce a slate of web projects earlier this month to keep the production cycle going. Reliance declined to comment to queries. Sarkar didn’t respond to requests for comment. The IMAC acquisition was expected to enable debt-ridden Reliance ADA Group exit the movie business, garnering fresh capital in exchange for IPs (intellectual properties). According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in April 2021, the Spac was set up by Sarkar to explore acquisition opportunities in media and entertainment companies across India, and other Asian, North American, and European countries. Usually, following the IPO, proceeds are placed into a trust account and the Spac has around 18-24 months to identify and complete a merger with a target company. In case the management fails to complete a merger within that time frame, the proceeds are returned to public shareholders and the Spac gets liquidated. The public shareholders are also allowed to vote against the merger once the target company is identified, and they may elect to redeem their shares. At the time of filing for the IPO, IMAC had stated that the company will have up to 18 months to complete a business combination from the closing of the offering. MINT PREMIUM See All Premium Is a liberal arts degree worth the money? Premium India’s earnings growth prospects more promising than peers Premium Life insurance stocks need cover Premium Mint Explainer: What Biden's impromptu Ukraine visit me . . . “The idea was to get investors interested in Reliance Entertainment’s library and secure funding on the basis of the same. But when the films in question are turning out to be box office duds, the offer obviously doesn’t seem lucrative," a senior film producer said on condition of anonymity. Reliance’s last theatrical release, Cirkus, ended its box office run at ₹ 35. 45 crore, an unimpressive figure considering the popularity of lead star Ranveer Singh and director Rohit Shetty. With a budget of ₹ 155 crore, action drama Vikram Vedha, too, managed only ₹ 79 crore while sports drama ’83 fetched ₹ 103 crore with investments of ₹ 260 crore. Even Sooryavanshi, a blockbuster release for Diwali 2021, faced high accumulated interest costs due to the covid-induced delay though it made close to ₹ 200 crore in domestic box office collections. A senior trade analyst said Sarkar’s strengths lie in the relationships he has forged in the industry, but the same can also backfire. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lata Jha Lata Jha covers media and entertainment for Mint. She focuses on the film, television, video and audio streaming businesses. She is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism. She can be found at the movies, when not writing about them. Read more from this author Catch all the Industry News , Banking News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates . More Less OPEN IN APP.