Private equity investors to buy 24% in NDTV Networks

A number of private equity investors including Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, etc. would acquire nearly 24% stake in NDTV Networks, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NDTV India, for $120 mn. NDTV Networks is a UK-based company and has five companies in its fold. It holds 100% in NDTV Labs, which will develop market and sell software and technology products; NDTV Imagine, which will operate a non-news Hindi mass entertainment channel; NDTV Lifestyle, which will provide content to TV channels in India and abroad; and NDTV Convergence, which would house all dotcom and mobile properties of the group. NDTV Networks also owns 50% in NDTV Media Services with Genpact for media process outsourcing.

NDTV India controls news channels, NDTV 24×7, NDTV Profit, among others. The company is also believed to have scrapped its initial public offer for the moment and may reconsider it later.

Read the Business Standard article.

NetWeb Solutions acquires WebPercept from JV partner Percept Holdings

The Economic Times reports that media company Percept Holdings has sold its 51% stake in WebPercept, an online and digital media agency, to its joint venture partner NetWeb Solutions. The JV was established in 1999-2000. Post acquisition, WebPercept will be re-christened id8 Labs. NetWeb plans to build id8 Labs into India’s first fully integrated online and digital media agency. The company plans to merge its existing business franchises – under Intentias, its brand in SEM & Media, IMACS (brand in online research) and the NetWeb brand in application development – into id8 Labs. id8 Labs will invest $5 mn in the next 12-18 months through internal accruals, promoter funding and strategic investments to expand its franchise in India and global markets through offices in Dubai and Singapore.

Malaysia’s Astro to invest $166 mn in Sun TV for 20% stake

The Economic Times reports that Malaysian direct-to-home (DTH) service provider Astro will invest $166 mn (€124.1 mn) for a 20% stake in Sun Direct TV, promoted by the Sun TV Network, one of India’s largest television station operators. The new venture aims to provide direct-to-home satellite TV services in India. It expects the new company to incur losses for the first five years, but aims to capitalize on India’s satellite TV market which is expected to add another 150 mn households in the next decade.

India TV receives $11.5 mn from Com Ventures affiliate FUSE+Media

Hindi news channel India TV has secured private equity funding of around $11.5 mn (Rs. 50.96 crores) FUSE+Media, an affiliate of US-based venture capital firm Com Ventures. The channel has also received approval by the Foreign Investment Proposal Board for the same.

FUSE+Media has invested in India TV through Mauritius-based CV Global Holdings. The investment would give FUSE+Media a 19.17% stake in Independent News Services Private Limited, which is India TV’s parent company, co-founded by Rajat Sharma and Ritu Dhawan. The FUSE+Media stake includes shares divested by existing stakeholders of Independent News Service.

More in the exchange4media.com article.

ChrysCapital to invest for $60 mn for 12% in Hathway Cable

Homegrown private equity major ChrysCapital may acquire about 10-12% stake in Rajan Raheja Group-controlled Hathway Cable for $60 mn. If the deal sails through, Raheja’s stake will be reduced to about 62-64%, while Star TV will continue to maintain its 26% holding in the company.

Talks between the two parties are at an advanced stage and the deal is likely to take place shortly. In January, Singapore-based PE fund Temasek Holdings bought 10% stake in Tata Sky, the joint venture between the Tata Group and Star TV, for Rs. 250 crores.

Delhi-based ChrysCapital manages $1 bn across four funds. Its investment portfolio includes Idea Cellular, UTI Bank, Suzlon, Yes Bank, Moser Baer and ING Vysya Bank.

Read the Indiantelevision.com article.
Related Post:
Temasek Holdings buys 10% in Tata Sky for Rs. 250 crores; values the DTH provider at Rs. 2500 crores

Peter Mukerjea’s private equity-funded broadcast venture INX Media officially launched

Two new media companies INX Media Private Limited and INX News Private Limited, promoted by ex-Star CEO Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani, have been officially launched. The full bouquet of channels will include a Hindi entertainment channel, an English news channel, various entertainment channels in regional languages, a music channel and city-specific channels. INX Group promoter Indrani Mukerjea will be chairperson of the venture.

The Hindi general entertainment channel, the music channel and the English news channel will be launched by the last quarter of the year while the other channels will be rolled out over the next two years. Funding for the entertainment company INX Media has come in from Temasek Holdings via Dunearn Investments, New Silk Route, New Vernon, Kotak and SREI Group. The news company, INX News, will be 26% owned by the entertainment company and, in accordance with government regulations, by a single Indian entity drawn from the INX Group. Heading INX News as CEO and editorial head is Vir Sanghvi.

No single fund will own more than 25% of the entertainment channel. A portion of the equity will be kept aside as sweat equity for key employees both in the entertainment and the news companies. The two companies have already applied for necessary permissions.

Kotak Investment Bank is the exclusive adviser to the INX Group on this transaction. Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co. are the legal advisers to the group. The investors in INX Media which will have the entertainment and the music channels include Dunearn Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, NSR PE, a fund advised by New Silk Route Partners, New Vernon Private Equity, SREI, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company and Kotak Private Equity and IM Media Private Limited.

Read more in the article on indiantelevision.com.

British media mogul Roger Parry to launch India-dedicated media fund

Roger Parry, the media executive who tried to mount a bid for British television broadcaster ITV last year, is planning to launch a fund to invest in India’s media and entertainment sectors. The fund, to be called the India Media Fund, is expected to announce plans for a $150 mn-$200 mn fundraising on the London Stock Exchange AIM in this week, having already identified 14 possible investments ranging from television channels to newspapers.

Mr. Parry, the chairman of Johnston Press and Future, the magazine group, will chair the company, whose investments will be managed by two founders, Andrew Carnegie and Ronnie Screwvala. India Media Fund is advised by investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort. Mr. Carnegie, a former SG Warburg investment banker, is a veteran of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. Mr. Screwvala is the chairman of UTV, the Mumbai-based film and TV production company. Both executives will sit on the boards of each company in which the fund invests.

Read the blog entry on FT Alpahville.com.

TV18 group firm Web18 buys movie ticketing firm Bigtree Entertainment

Web18, the Internet arm of the TV18 Group has acquired around 60% stake in movie and entertainment ticketing company Bigtree Entertainment for $3-4 mn. Bigtree Entertainment is a comprehensive entertainment ticketing applications and solutions provider and services across 35 cities in India. The company provides ticketing applications to cinemas and entertainment venues via a complete suite of software products like box office ticketing, concessions management, web ticketing, loyalty management software, film programming, bar code ticketing, voucher management and others. Bigtree provides the necessary software, processes, systems, door delivery options, cash collection, warehousing and accounting services. It currently handles over 2.5 mn ticketing transactions annually for all major exhibition chains across the country.

The latest acquisition strengthens Web18’s position in the e-transactions space, both on the PC as well as mobile phones. It had acquired a significant stake in travel portal Yatra.com and placement portal Jobstreet.com India a few months ago. Web18 already owns popular portals like cricketnext.com and products comparison site compareindia.com.

Read the article in Business Standard and The Economic Times.

Geodesic Information Systems to buy Chandamama for Rs. 10.02 crores

Software firm Geodesic Information Systems Limited will acquire 94% in children’s magazine publisher Chandamama India Limited for Rs. 10.02 crores. The cash component of the cash-cum-stock deal would amount to Rs. 1.6 crores. Geodesic is planning a makeover of the 60-year old magazine whereby the content would also be available on the Internet and mobile media.

Geodesic provides content over its universal instant messaging system, which is available on desktops, mobile devices and also over Internet radio. Chandamama, with a monthly circulation of around 200,000 copies, will continue to have its own identity. There have been reports in the past of Walt Disney planning to acquire a stake in Chandamama. Geodesic expects to complete the acquisition by March-end, and the consolidation of the accounts will commence from April 1, 2007.

Read more in the article on Reuters.com.

WPP merges Bates with David; David head Josy Paul resigns

WPP is merging its agencies Bates Enterprise and David to form Bates David Enterprise in India. The boards of directors of both the companies have approved the merger. Integration of processes and people is expected to be completed over the next two months. The offices in Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai, will offer a complete range of communication services. Bates David Enterprise will be led by Subhash Kamath as CEO and Mohammed Khan as chairman. Josy Paul, chairman and NCD, David, has put in his papers and will not be part of the new entity.

Read more in DNA Money.

Sony Pictures company buys 51% in Chennai-based animation firm FrameFlow

Chennai-based FrameFlow, a three year-old animation and visual effects company has sold 51% stake to US-based Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI) for a reported $5 mn. FrameFlow has been renamed as Imageworks India. Founded in the year 2003, FrameFlow has a state-of-art production facility in Chennai employing 80 people delivering solutions to the visual effects industry. SPI will invest in infrastructure and proprietary technology software, besides offering high-end training, and expect to generate revenues of $20 mn over the next three years.

Read The Economic Times article

France-based Thomson acquires controlling stake in Paprikaas Animation

The €5.4 bn, French digital video technologies major Thomson has acquired a controlling majority in Bangalore-based Paprikaas Animation Studios. The size of the deal has not been disclosed. The acquisition was done through Thomson’s Tehnicolour Content Services business which provides various content activities to media and entertainment sectors. With this buyout, Thomson would be looking sourcing its requirements for the global market through Paprikaas. Paprikaas employs around 150 people.

Read the article in DNA Money.

UTV, Future Group in talks for retail JV

Entertainment and media company UTV Software Communications and Future Group (Pantaloon Retail) are in talks to float a retail venture together. The blueprint for the project is to open Cafe Lounges as a brand extension to UTV’s upcoming youth centric channel in June. The Cafe Lounges targeted at the youth will be a fusion of entertainment, gaming and a lounge where youngsters can relax. While UTV will use its strength in the entertainment and broadcasting space, the Future group will use its expertise in the retail domain to jump start this venture.

The Cafe Lounges will be a brand extension of UTV’s youth centric initiatives and will use these to attract the youth both in terms of footfalls to these outlets as well as to ensure eyeballs on the channel. Work on this front has already begun, and placement agency sources also confirmed that UTV has started recruiting people from the retail and cafe space. The retail outlets planned would act as entertainment zones encompassing all the youth initiatives including the channel. Twenty two cities have been identified, and currently locations for the outlets are being tied up. The partnership between UTV and the Future Group would either be a lease and profit sharing model or a joint venture company, still being discussed by both parties.

Read The Economic Times article.

Temasek to invest $300 mn in TV channel; in talks with US PE funds, Reliance and media professionals

Temasek Holdings, the private equity arm of the Singapore government, is in talks with a clutch of Indian media professionals and business houses to set up a TV broadcasting company. The proposed company could rope in former CEO of Star TV Peter Mukerjea and Mukesh Ambani, the latter through his personal investment companies, as well as some US-based equity funds. The venture will operate news and current affairs as well as entertainment channels. Ambani, Temasek and US investors are to get 26% each and the remaining portion will be divided among Mukerjea and other professionals who join later. The channel would look at an investment of around $300 mn (roughly Rs. 1400 crores) in the next two to three years.

Read the Business Standard article.

Providence Private Equity to buy stake in Asianet for Rs. 300 crores

US private equity fund Providence is reportedly buying a minority stake in Asianet Satellite Communications, Kerala’s largest cable operator for Rs. 300 crores. Providence invests only in media and communication companies. Last year, it bought 16% in AV Birla-controlled Idea Cellular, India’s sixth-largest cellular operator for about $400 mn. The firm has opened an office in New Delhi.

Asianet reaches about 500,000 homes directly in Kerala and provides signal to other local cable operators covering an additional 300,000 homes. The company has been betting big on the integrated services play of late and has forayed into broadband through Asianet Data Line, which is expected to contribute an additional Rs. 25-30 crores to the topline this year. The company also operates a bouquet of channels, such as Jewel Box, Medley and Asianet Cable Vision.

Launched in August 1993, Asianet is the oldest Malayalam channel and beams its programmes through Intelsat to over 15 countries in West Asia, South and South-East Asia. The Asianet channel is also picked up by other cable operators in the state.
The 13-year-old channel is going for a major expansion in the near future. New Kannada and Tamil channels will be the latest additions to the bouquet of channels bearing the Asianet logo.

Read The Economic Times article.
Related Post: Providence Equity Partners opens offices in Hong Kong and India

Percept Picture Company to offload 30% stake to Lachlan Murdoch

Lachlan Keith Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is in advanced stages of negotiations to acquire around 30% stake in Percept Picture Company (PPC) for roughly around Rs. 250 crores.

Percept Holdings is media business house with over 900 people across three continents in 61 offices with capitalized billings of Rs. 1321 crores. Apart from the movie entertainment division PPC, in which it holds 75% , Percept Holdings also has a celebrity management company, an advertising agency, an outdoor media business and a PR firm in its portfolio.

India’s media and entertainment sector has been attracting a lot of funding now-a-days. In 2005, Temasek Holdings of Singapore took a 14.9% stake in Mumbai-based Shringar Films. Last year, Australia-based Macquarie Bank acquired about 6.6% in entertainment company UTV Software Communications with Walt Disney also acquiring 14.9 % in the firm. In November 2006, Ten Sports too finally sold its controlling stake to Zee in a cash deal worth over Rs. 256.6 crores. Recently, Nimbus Communications received a fresh round of PE funding worth Rs 552 crore from 3i, Cisco and Oman Investment Fund (Post). Reliance Capital has picked up controlling stake in Adlabs and Synergy Communication.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

NDTV Networks discusses stake sale to Blackstone; may list on LSE AIM

Rumour has it that Blackstone is probably looking at buying a stake in NDTV Networks, an NDTV Group company as part of an investment consortium. NDTV Networks plans to raise $130-160 mn by diluting 25-30% to the consortium, valuing the company at $433-640 mn. The money raised will be used for establishing new channels and businesses. NDTV Networks intends to list on the London Stock Exchange AIM market by the stake sale. Jefferies International Limited is the merchant banker to the issue.

Blackstone had recently invested $275 mn in Hyderabad-based Ushodaya Enterprises, owners of Eenadu and ETV, and Ramoji Rao Film City, one of the largest investments by a private equity fund in an Indian media company (See Related Post).

NDTV Networks will invest $106 mn of the cash in NDTV Imagine Limited, a Hindi mass entertainment channel with film director Karan Johar as partner, and $25.3 mn in NDTV Lifestyle Limited, a channel dedicated to travel, food, shopping, health and wellness. NDTV Networks also owns NDTV Labs, which develops technology and software solutions for TV broadcasting, NDTV Convergence, which owns and operates websites, and 50% in NDTV Media Services Private Limited, a JV with Genpact India Holdings, a media process outsourcing firm for overseas clients.

Read the Business Standard article.

The Blackstone Group invests $275 mn in Hyderabad-based media company Ushodaya Enterprises

The Blackstone Group, one of the world’s biggest private equity firms, has invested $275 mn in Ushodaya Enterprises Limited (UEL). UEL owns Eenadu, ETV and Ramoji Film City. The investment in the Hyderabad-based media house is touted to be the biggest in the Indian media sector. Blackstone will get board representation in Ushodaya. The investment is a part of the fundraising that Ushodaya has initiated upon. The company intends to raise $465 mn of which Blackstone has made an initial investment of $275 mn while the balance $190 mn will be by way of bank financing. The transaction is now subject to regulatory approvals from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Kotak Investment Banking was the sole investment banking advisor to the transaction.

Read the press release here.

3i, Cisco, Oman Investment Fund invest $152 mn in Nimbus for 28% stake

Nimbus Communications, a media company with interests in general entertainment and sports, received private equity funding of $152 mn (Rs. 552 crores) for a 28.5% stake in the company. Private equity firm 3i, technology MNC Cisco and Oman Investment Fund (OIF) were the investors. Deutsche Bank and Americorp Ventures already hold stakes in Nimbus. The deal is being billed as the largest-ever private equity investments in the Indian media and entertainment sector. The advisors in this private equity transaction were Euromax Capital and Enam Consultants.

The private equity investment in Nimbus would be through compulsory convertible debentures with a likely conversion scheduled prior to the company’s listing. This would be the final round of private equity investment before the company gets listed, which could be done within three years. The shareholding of the promoters would come down to between 40% and 44%, currently standing at 54%.

Nimbus has earlier said that it is interested in expanding its sports facilities and also the technology platform for future launches. Film distribution is another growth area. The money will be utilized to expand the company’s international sports business and diversify into football and golf. A part of the funds will also be utilized to finance Indian language films, international film production and distribution, developing digital content for wireless and IPTV platforms and to expand the company’s broadcasting operations.

3i is one of the largest UK-based private equity funds, managing close to $10 bn globally. This is the second round of investment for 3i in Nimbus. In 2005, the fund had invested $45 mn for a 33% stake in the company. In the current tranche, it has put in $30 mn for 6.5%. Early this month, 3i invested $22 mn in Indian digital cinema chain UFO Moviez (See Related Post). OIF, promoted by Sultan of Oman, has invested $75 mn for an 18% stake while Cisco got 4% for $20 mn. Cisco’s investment is based on its strengths in IP television, a platform that Nimbus plans to foray into, while OIF will help Nimbus boost its presence in the Middle East. Nimbus’ current revenues stand at $310 mn, up from $70 mn when 3i first picked a stake in it. Over the last five years, the company has received close to $200 mn (Rs. 900 crores) in foreign investments.

Read the articles in The Economic Times – 1 2.

Star to buy 20% stake in radio company MBPL

Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star Group will pick up 20% equity in radio company Music Broadcast Private Limited (MBPL) from private equity firm India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA). MBPL runs its radio service under the brand ‘Radio City’, which is operational in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Chennai and Jaipur. The company also won licenses in the second round of FM radio bidding and has plans to launch services in cities like Nagpur, Surat, Ahmedabad and Baroda.

The two companies had technically approved the deal and now Star would be seeking governmental approval to make the investments. Star will be approaching the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to seek permission for making the investments.

This will be Star’s second coming in the Indian FM radio business, after its stint with MBPL earlier where it was responsible for content supply and ad-sales, though without putting in equity. Star did not have any stake in the company at that time as the Government had not opened the sector to FDI. However, with the government allowing 20% equity in private FM radio as well as laying down a favourable policy regime, in the form of a revenue share regime, Star has made a comeback in the segment through equity participation.

Read the article in The Financial Express and The Economic Times.

Osian’s raises Rs. 55 crores via private placement; valued at Rs. 590 crores

Arts and cultural institution Osian’s – Connoisseurs of Art Private Limited has raised Rs. 55 crores through a private equity placement to over five new investors at Rs. 1400 per share. The investors include a major Indian manufacturing company, three investors representing financial institutions and a major Oman-based investor group. The private placement pegs Osian’s valuation at approximately Rs. 590 crores.

In May 2006, when Boston-based investment management firm Venus Capital Management’s 5% stake acquisition for Rs. 11.2 crores at Rs. 560 per share had valued Osian’s at Rs. 224 crores. The latest round of funding will further Osian’s vision to become the first art-cultural institution in the world to go public.

Osian’s list of investors includes famous names such as Shiv Nadar, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Gautam Thapar, Jerry Rao, and Vallabh Bhansali among others. Osian’s was established in 2000 by Neville Tuli, who still holds a majority stake in the company.

The projected PAT for the current financial year is expected to be Rs. 18 crores and Rs. 40 crores for 2007-08. The latest round of fund raising will dilute promoters’ equity by 9.89% and take the capital base of the company to Rs. 4.35 crores.

Osian’s intends to utilize these funds for expansion linked to the Osianama project. The Osianama project involves a complex which will include three film theatres showing the best of cinemas from Asia, the Arab world, Africa and Latin America while making available cutting-edge post-production facilities to the best in the industry, all in the context of a world class museum and archive where its vast art collection will be displayed for the public. Within this growth plan, Osian’s will enter feature film production in the current year.

Read The Economic Times article for more details.

Indiabulls founder Sameer Gehlaut picks up 25% in BAG Films

Indiabulls co-founder and chairman Sameer Gehlaut has invested in Delhi-based TV and film content company BAG Films. Gehlaut is buying around 25% stake in BAG Films for Rs. 262 mn ($5.7 mn). Gehlaut has been made a preferential allotment of up to 20.25 mn equity shares of Rs. 2 each at a price of Rs. 13 per share. It is now mandatory for Gehlaut to make an offer for a further 20% stake. A fully subscribed open offer would make Gehlaut BAG’s largest shareholder.

The promoters of BAG Films, Rajiv Shukla and Anuradha Prasad own about 37.5% on the expanded equity currently. According to Anuradha Prasad, MD of BAG Films, Gehlaut has come in as a pure financial investor. BAG also plans to invest about Rs. 160 mn in new media and the animation business. Recently, IDBI Bank and Bank of Baroda have picked up 10% each in BAG Films’ radio venture, BAG Infotainment.

For more, refer to the Indiantelevision.com article.

3i invests $22 mn in digital theatre chain UFO Moviez

Private equity firm 3i has invested $22 mn in UFO Moviez, a digital cinema chain. It has an option of investing another $3 mn later.

UFO Moviez plans to utilize the money to part finance its expansion plans. It intends to invest in hardware to expand its presence in India and overseas in markets like the Middle East, South-East Asia and Africa by January ’07. UFO plans to scale up its Indian operations from 600 to 2000 screens and plans to reach 3000 digital cinema houses worldwide by 2008.

This is the second investment by 3i in the media space, the earlier being in Nimbus Communications, which holds the BCCI global media rights till 2010. Apollo group’s Onkar Singh Kanwar owns 60% in UFO, while about 15% is held by the Singapore-based DG2L Technologies. The remaining stake is held by its CEO Sanjay Gaikwad.

Read the article in The Economic Times.

Cinemax India Limited IPO priced at Rs. 135 to Rs. 155

One of India’s leading theatre chains, Cinemax India Limited, is coming out with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) with an issue of 8.92 mn shares of Rs. 10 each at a price band of Rs. 135 – Rs. 155 per share. The issue comprises a fresh issue of 7 mn shares and an offer for sale of 1.92 mn shares by existing shareholders. The net issue will constitute 31.86% of the fully diluted equity share capital of Cinemax India Limited.

The capital raised from the issue will be deployed to set up several theatres in various locations across India. As a part of their expansion plans, over the next two years, they propose to set up 19 theatres at identified key locations in which a total seating capacity of approximately 15,864 seats will be created.

Enam Financial Consultants Private Limited, JM Morgan Stanley Private Limited, Edelweiss Capital Limited and Ambit Corporate Finance Private Limited are the Book Running Lead Managers to the IPO. The shares will be listed on The Bombay Stock Exchange and The National Stock Exchange of India.

Read the press release here.