On June 29, 11 days after Kokilaben announces a settlement between sons Mukesh and Anil Ambani, the stock price of Adlab Films, a multiplex and film production company, zooms 11.68 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to close at Rs 206. A day later, Adlabs closes above Rs 240. There's a good reason for that 16.5 per cent spurt: A couple of hours before trading concludes on the NSE, Reliance Capital Ltd (RCL), the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises (ADAE) group company, announces it will acquire a 51 per cent stake in Adlab Films for Rs 360 crore. The newly-formed ADAE group announces its first acquisition.

Adlabs may well be Anil Ambani's first building block in an endeavor to become India's newest, and biggest, media mogul. But the acquisition binge isn't restricted to just the entertainment and convergence arena. Over the past fortnight, the rumour mills on Dalal Street have been on overdrive, throwing up names in the banking and insurance sector, even an engineering consultancy, as possible acquisition targets of the younger Ambani, via his group companies Reliance Energy, Reliance Capital and Reliance Infocomm. Whilst the ADAE camp isn't committing to how huge its war chest is, suffice it to say that the investments to be made in acquisitions and new projects will run into several thousands of crores. Just one of the proposed new ventures, direct-to-home (DTH) television, will call for investments of at least Rs 300 crore (this will not include the losses for the initial period, which could take it to as much as Rs 1,000 crore); in this business Ambani will be taking on established media and entertainment majors such as Star, Zee and the Sun network.

So, is there a method in the frenzied, hurried takeover binge, or is the flamboyant Ambani-armed as he is with a purse running into thousands of crores post-settlement-just playing to the gallery? A section of analysts closely watching Anil is convinced that it is the first. "Obviously, the landscape for the ADAE group and Adlabs is huge with respect to films, multiplexes, home video and the infocomm businesses. All these synergise well with the DTH business. From an industry perspective, this deal has received the stamp of approval for the overall entertainment business," says Salil Pitale, Vice President, Enam Financial Consultants. The acquisitive interest in the financial services space too gets a nod of approval from Paresh Khandwalla, Director, Khandwalla Securities, who feels that Reliance Capital's strong brand equity makes it well placed to ride the boom in financial services. "They have delivered on a business like mutual funds where they were a late entrant. In the case of insurance, it is a growing market with low levels of penetration. Our own estimate is that the business in India will grow at 55 per cent on an annualised basis over the next 10 years."

Clearly, if the rumoured acquisitions do materialise, they will fit well into the bigger picture that Ambani is drawing up in the entertainment and financial services sector. For instance, if RCL does buy out AMP Sanmar's life insurance business and does acquire a stake in IndusInd Bank (subject to the Reserve Bank's go-ahead), it would create an entity that will help Anil Ambani realise his dream of creating a "financial powerhouse". (For the record, Reliance Capital has denied the IndusInd Bank acquisition rumour, and, for good measure, shot off a terse note to the stock exchanges that claims the reports were speculative). The Adlabs acquisition, too, is just one prong of the larger blueprint for entertainment, particularly when you consider that Reliance Sky Magic (a Reliance Energy subsidiary) has applied for a licence to provide direct-to-home services. And don't forget Reliance Infocomm, via which Ambani can offer entertainment content via broadband Internet on PCs as well as mobile phones.

ADAE's Menon: Prior to joining Anil's group, he has had stints at IBM, BellSouth and Bharti Tele-Ventures	Reliance Energy's Sinha: He spent two decades at NTPC before joining Reliance Energy as Director (HR)

An ADAE group spokesperson points out that a foray into an area like digital cinema can be facilitated via Adlabs. "The synergy between us and Adlabs is derived from Adlabs being the largest listed integrated film company. Importantly, it has a scalable model for all its businesses-multiplexes, film production and film processing," he explains. Avers Manmohan Shetty, Chairman & Managing Director, Adlabs: "It allows me to grow much faster and brings in more funds into the company." While Shetty and daughter Pooja will dilute their 27 per cent stake to just over 16 per cent, they will continue to run Adlabs. Importantly, Adlabs is looking to strengthen its presence in the multiplex space and there has been talk of it having over 25 multiplexes over time. Though Shetty is unwilling to talk numbers, it is evident that the market out there is substantial. A recently-released Yes Bank report on the Hindi film industry states that at the end of March 2005, there were a total of 73 multiplexes in India that accounted for 276 screens and close to 90,000 seats.

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER Where the Reliance Empire stands three years after the death of patriach Dhirubhai Ambani.

Late Dhirubhai Ambani: He would have been happy that RIL was not spilit If the late Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of the reliance group who passed away three years ago, had an opportunity to look at the shape the empire he created has taken, would the fact that his two sons have gone separate ways (after seven months of acrimony) break his heart? Or would he be at peace now that both Mukesh and Anil are well placed to ride the numerous opportunities available and dictate individual strategies for their respective domains? There will never be any clear-cut answers to those questions, but doubtless, the late patriarch would have been relieved that the company he created, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), didn't get split in the recent no-holds-barred battle for the group's assets. If the brothers deserve a pat on the back at all, they should be credited for not playing around with RIL, allowing its integrated character to be retained, with a presence right from oil and gas exploration to the manufacture of textiles. Of course, the integrated nature of RIL has also ensured that Mukesh has been left with the most valuable jewel in the Reliance crown. To maintain the balance he has had to let go of a project arguably closest to his heart in recent times: Reliance Infocomm. Anil Ambani, its new boss, is likely to attempt something different. Initial indications seem to confirm that, and, according to sources in Reliance Infocomm, Ambani has been adopting the approach of, "I am here to learn and will do that by listening to you." At the same time, he has been firm when it comes to investments and is clear that this will be subject to revenues being generated. Ambani spends at least three 12-hour days a week at the Infocomm campus in Navi Mumbai, meeting up with department heads in a bid to get a solid understanding of the business status. For Mukesh, meantime, it's back to the businesses he started out with, petrochemicals, along with its upstream and downstream synergies. Dhirubhai would have approved.

Then there's fm radio too. "With the movement to a revenue-sharing policy, we will certainly bid for fresh licences once they are opened," states the ADAE spokesperson. "It all comes down to share of wallet and share of mind. We want to be a big player in entertainment, media and infocomm. We will invest whatever it takes."

Last fortnight, as Reliance's apparent acquisitive binge was being speculated across mega pointsize headlines, with a takeover being speculated every other day-virtually any spurt in a stock that's higher than the broader indices' movement is being attributed to the ADAE group's interest-there were observers who were wondering what the hurry was all about. Finally at the helm of a clutch of businesses, is Anil Ambani in a hurry to make up for lost time? Is he keen to relegate his brother's companies to the shadows by creating more value for ADAE group shareholders than Reliance Industries can? Time- and the number of acquisitions that materialise over the next few days-will provide an answer to such questions.