Prana Studios has placed the winning bid to acquire Rhythm and Hues. A US bankruptcy court has approved the sale of Academy Award-winning visual effects and animation studio Rhythm & Hues to a wholly-owned affiliate of Los Angeles – based Prana Studios, which has Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra as one of the investors. The bidding value is estimated to be at $ 17.8 million, of which $1.2 million will be paid in cash, $16,277,020 will be invested in clearing debt, and an estimated $327,222 in cure amounts.

The winning bid also had to be approved by Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures. As many as five bids were received till 22 March, the last day of bidding. However, only two bids were deemed qualified.

Apart from 34×118 Holdings, the auction process saw bidding from Prime Focus World, a subsidiary of Mumbai-based Prime Focus and Brave Vision Investments, which is connected to Chinese-American film distributor China Lion Film Distribution.

VFX house Rhythm and Hues Studios filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding in the United States on February 23, 2013. This year the studio won a BAFTA award and an Oscar for visual effects in Life of Pi.