Wave Group inks expansion plans after split

NEW DELHI: Real estate to entertainment conglomerate, Wave Group, has lined up a slew of projects for expansion and new forays post the split in the group that happened on July 14.


The Rs 15,000-crore diversified conglomerate is planning aggressive expansion in the areas of liquor and films, which will be led by Rajinder (Raju) Chadha, brother of late promoter Ponty Chadha, who has inherited 36% of the business. Around 64% of the group, consisting largely real estate and sugar mills will be controlled by Ponty Chadha’s son Manpreet Singh Chadha. “Under the new leadership, the Raju Chadha faction of Wave Group has now planned to increase capacities in the company’s breweries and distilleries. New greenfield projects to add more distilleries are also on the drawing board,” said two people familiar with the development.

Apart from expanding the liquor business, Raju Chadha has also lined up a major expansion of his film business. Other than investing in film projects both in Bollywood and Hollywood, the erstwhile Wave Group chairman is looking to invest in his relatively new company Wave Digital. “These are the core of our business areas. And we do expect to expand it substantially going forward,” a Wave Group spokesperson said.

Wave Digital will venture into a brand new area for the group by focusing on creating film and fictional content for web series. A separate over the top (OTT) platform is also being planned, on the lines of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and MX Player. The film business is also being revamped and more projects are in the pipeline.

“We have been the film business for long and realise that digital as a medium is growing. Given this, we want to be at the forefront of digital on the entertainment side. OTT is one of the areas we are exploring,” the spokesperson said.

The Wave Group, which was established in 1963 as a sugarcane crushing business, diversified into several businesses, including paper, liquor, distillery, beverages, education and films under the leadership of Ponty Chadha, who passed away in 2012. After his death, the businesses were run by Manpreet and Rajinder Chadha. First signs of division of the group began surfacing in 2017, sources said, and the final agreement to divide the empire was signed at the Noida headquarters of the Wave Group, with the entire family present to witness the signing.