Rupert Murdoch’s Star TV May Pick Up Stake In Nimbus Communications

The Economic Times: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp wants a slice of the cricket pie in India at any cost. It doesn’t matter if the group company ESPN-Star Sports lost the bid to win the cricket rights early this year to Nimbus Communications. The multinational media giant is believed to be in advanced stage of talks with Nimbus for picking up about 40% stake in the latter for upwards of Rs 400 crore ($90 million). The positive for News Corp – if the deal goes through – is that it will be able to share the spoils of the four-year cricket telecast rights which Nimbus holds (it bought the rights for $612 million). There is no official confirmation of the deal, though. Nimbus was also believed to be in talks with private equity firms for a potential stake dilution.
Nimbus, on the other hand, is launching three channels which includes NEO SPORTS – a sports channel – and it’s striking distribution arrangements with Star TV network.

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