– Starry few days for Rupert Murdoch, the man who made Tony Blair doesn’t seem to have lost his appetitite for a heady cocktail of politics and media, even in India. Mr Murdoch is believed to have given the nod for an alliance with the Rajeev Chandrasekhar-led Asianet Entertainment. ET reports that Star is expected to acquire a majority stake in Asianet’s general entertainment channels in Malayalam (2), one in Kannada (Suvarna) and one proposed in Telugu (Sitara). The deal is expected to be sealed in the coming weeks. We had previously reported on News Corp’s $100 million regional TV channel investment warchest. As per the report, the deal is being valued at Rs 300- 350 crore. That leaves approximately $29 million for other regional GEC play’s. Chandrasekhar had acquired a controlling interest in Asianet through his PE firm Jupiter Capital for Rs 130-150 crore.
— Further to our in-depth report on Star looking to divest the 25.9% stake in Balaji, fortunes for both the firms seem to be interlinked. As per the previous report, the deal with Asianet will be realized only after Star exits Balaji. Another one states Balaji is now seriously pursuing talks with a consortium of investors, the most likely being Reliance ADAG. Murdoch himself had declined to comment on the status of the venture, but those in the know contacted by CS indicate the end kould be very near.
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