NDTV Networks Raises $120 Million In PE Investment; IPO Deferred

NDTV India has apparently deferred plans for listing its fully owned UK subsidiary- NDTV Networks Plc – in the international markets. The Financial Express reports that the company is looking at an IPO in the US or UK only by around 2010. Apparently, after NDTV got the FIPB nod for foreign investment upto Rs. 585 crore, private equity investors including Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and others have acquired a 24 percent stake in the company, for $120 million (around Rs. 511 crore).
NDTV Networks comprises of five subsidiaries – NDTV Imagine, NDTV Lifestyle, NDTV Convergence and NDTV Labs, as well as a 50 percent stake in media process outsourcing co NGEN Media Services, a JV with Genpact.
NDTV is currently in talks with production houses including Balaji Telefilms, Hats Off and Synergy for content for its entertainment venture NDTV Imagine, in which filmmaker Karan Johar has a minority stake. The channel is expected to launch by Jan 2008, and initially be free-to-air. Also in the works is a movie channel, which will be launched around March 2008. The Hindi general entertainment channel market is estimated at Rs 3,000 crore, growing at the rate of 10-15 per cent, with Zee, STAR and Sony as major players. [Source: Hindu and BS]

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