Calcutta, July 26: RPG Enterprises outfit Saregama India will set up a joint venture company with Regency Media Pty Ltd to manufacture and sell optical media.

The board of directors today approved the joint venture where Saregama would hold a 26 per cent stake and Regency would own the rest.

The Calcutta-based company, however, refused to divulge details of the deal. Regency Media is a leading manufacturer of compact discs (CD) and digital versatile discs (DVD) in Australia.

It has an output of 40 million DVDs and 25 million CDs.

Saregama has the largest catalogue of music in India and it has moved into the home video segment by teaming up with well known international studios.

The company has also ventured into film production in a big way. The Indian market is witnessing changes with the advent of Moser Baer, which has started selling film DVDs and CDs at a bargain price.

Saregama's music is marketed overseas by two subsidiaries — RPG Global Music and Saregama Plc. Saregama Plc focuses on the UK, the US, continental Europe, Canada, the Caribbean Islands and South Africa.

Net profit up

The company has posted a 7.22 per cent growth in profit after tax at Rs 2.97 crore in the first quarter of 2007-08 compared with the same period last year.

Total income, however, dropped 14.4 per cent to Rs 29.43 crore from Rs 34.39 crore in the first quarter last year.