ITV

Tag: acquisition

  • Star India acquires broadcast business of Maa TV

    Star India acquires broadcast business of Maa TV

    MUMBAI: Star India has acquired the broadcasting business of Maa Television Network. The company operates four Telugu channels namely – Maa TV (Telugu general entertainment channel), Maa Music (music channel), Maa Movies (movie channel) and Maa Gold (youth channel) – which offer an opportunity for creative content innovation in the Telugu television market.

     

    Pertinent to note here is that in 2007 Star had inked a joint venture with Balaji Telefilms to enter the Telugu market. Plans were to float a separate company for a Telugu language channel. However, the JV between the two companies ended in 2008. Star has now finally made its entry by acquiring the broadcast business of Maa TV, which industry sources peg at approximately Rs 1000 crore.

     

    Also interesting to note is that in 2012, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) had entered into a strategic deal with Maa Television Network to pick up a 30 per cent stake, which however didn’t see the light of day. Nonetheless negotiations were on between the two companies and it seems as if Star has now pipped Sony in the acquisition race.

     

    The acquisition will give Star India access to the highly attractive Telugu TV market (the second largest regional market in India in terms of revenue potential), where it has a very limited presence till date. Maa Television Network is the number one broadcast network in Telugu language content and has a strong trajectory of growth driven by fiction content and movies.

     

    The strategic deal will come into effect upon complying with the necessary regulatory formalities and the broadcast business of Maa TV will be integrated with the business of Star India, once the policies and procedures in the acquired broadcast business of Maa TV are aligned with those at Star India.

     

    With the expansion into the Telugu market Star looks to continue its tradition of innovation in content, building on the strong track record established by the team at Maa Television Network.

     

    “The Telugu market is an important market however the pace of innovation has been slow. We are keen to change this by acquiring a local presence and fundamentally changing the content quality paradigm. We were very impressed by the solid creative core and quality and depth of the management team at Maa Television Network. In a short span of time they have built a leading business which is poised to take the next leap. The acquisition fills a vital gap in our portfolio allowing our advertisers targeted access to a critical market,” said Star India CEO Uday Shankar.

     

    “The strategic decision to align with Star India and be part of a global media group will be a big leap in our efforts to take the Maa TV Network to the next level and strengthen the positioning of Maa brand in the entertainment industry. Star’s leadership in Indian media and entertainment industry and its parent company’s proven expertise in media business on global scale will enable Maa to offer more innovative, rich and differentiated entertainment content to the Telugu Diaspora worldwide,” added Maa Television Network chairman Nimmagadda Prasad.

     

    “We see a lot of synergies and complementary strengths emanating from the strategic deal and it will be a win-win proposition for Maa and Star. Telugu TV viewers will stand to gain significantly from this initiative through greater access to a wide variety of qualitative entertainment content,” Prasad concluded.

  • Cyient to acquire majority stake in Rangsons Electronics

    Cyient to acquire majority stake in Rangsons Electronics

    MUMBAI:  Cyient has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 74 per cent equity stake in Rangsons Electronics, an electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM) services company, headquartered in Mysore, in an all-cash transaction.

    The acquisition positions Cyient strongly to expand into high-technology and high-value, design-led systems and solutions in line with the company’s S3 (services, systems and solutions) strategy.

    Cyient MD and CEO Krishna Bodanapu said, “With its strong domain expertise coupled with a comprehensive solution portfolio, industry-relevant processes, certifications, and global customers, Rangsons Electronics fits extremely well in Cyient’s business. The new relationship will help Cyient expand its core business while deepening partnerships with OEM customers. I look forward to working closely with the Rangsons team to achieve the maximum synergy from this acquisition, and believe that this will make our offerings even more attractive to our customers.”

    Rangsons Electronics is a well-established ESDM and systems integration vendor with over two decades of experience in developing highly complex systems.

     “Rangsons Electronics has built India’s leading platform within the electronics segment with client-centric service delivery, driven by award winning quality systems. We have found a complementary partner in Cyient, who has built a global engineering solutions business backed by strong technology and ethos. We are proud to associate with them and believe the combined entity will be positioned uniquely as an end-to-end integrated engineering, design and manufacturing provider. My team and I are very excited about this association and look forward to achieving our shared growth objectives”, said Rangsons Electronics CEO Pavan Ranga.

     The proposed acquisition is Cyient’s third in less than a year, and reflects the company’s strong growth focus. Its acquisitions earlier in 2014 included Softential, a US-based end-to-end IT service management/assurance solution vendor, and Invati Insights, a start-up data sciences company.

     

  • Reliance Media Works files revised dates draft letter for acquiring 26% of Prime Focus

    Reliance Media Works files revised dates draft letter for acquiring 26% of Prime Focus

     BENGALURU: Reliance Media Works Limited (RMW, acquirer) has filed a draft letter of offer (LOF) with revised dates on the bourses for acquisition of a 26 per cent voting stake in Prime Focus Limited (Prime Focus, target company). RMW is acting in concert with Reliance Land Private Limited, Namit Malhotra, Narseh Malhotra and Monsoon Studio Private Limited (Monsoon Studios).  

     

    RMW will make a cash offer at Rs 52 per Equity Share to acquire up to 7,77,08,534 Equity Shares of face value of Re 1 each representing 26 per cent of the emerging voting capital (EVC) of Prime Focus. The target company’s EVC  comprises the paid-up equity share capital of Rs 29,88,78,974 divided into 29,88,78,974 equity shares, being the paid-up equity share capital of the target company after the allotment of the preferential allotment – 11,34,61,538 Equity Shares to the acquirer and Monsoon Studios on a preferential allotment basis.

     

    The offer shall open on 19 December 2014 and will remain open until 2 January 2015. All owners (registered or unregistered) of Equity Shares, regardless of whether he/she/it held Equity Shares on the identified date 5 December 2014), are eligible to participate in the offer any time before the closure of the tendering period.

     

    Click here to read the offer letter

  • Equifax India acquires NettPositive

    Equifax India acquires NettPositive

    MUMBAI: Equifax Inc., a global information solutions provider, has completed its acquisition of the remaining interest in analytics and business intelligence solutions leader, NettPositive.

     

    Through this acquisition, customers benefit from a combination of data and analytics that provides a more comprehensive view of today’s consumers – a differentiator for businesses addressing complex business issues that call for innovation and game-changing insight.

     

    Having held a majority interest in NettPositive since 2012, Equifax recently announced its intent to purchase the remaining interests in the Bangalore-based company, which serves the financial services, insurance and retail industries in India, the Middle East and Africa. With this completed transaction, NettPositive is now an operating entity of Equifax’s expanding India business. Leveraging the full suite of NettPositive’s superior analytics will enable Equifax India to address changing market needs and expand its market footprint.

     

    Equifax emerging markets MD Shahid Charania said, “We are pleased to fold NettPositive – along with all of its capabilities and employees – into our Equifax India brand, as it has proven to be a tremendous asset thus far.  The combination of robust data and cutting-edge analytics has led to a successful business model as well as leading solutions for our customers.  We look forward to continuing to build on the momentum we’ve already seen, and strengthening our foothold in the India marketplace.”

  • Amazon reportedly in talks to buy Jabong in India

    Amazon reportedly in talks to buy Jabong in India

    MUMBAI: With the rivalry rising in the e-commerce space, it looks like the Indian arm of Amazon is ready to heat it up a notch.  The e-tailer is reportedly in talks with Indian fashion site Jabong to acquire it.

     

    According to a report in a leading daily, the talks are at a preliminary stage and despite being valued at around $500 million in a recent regulatory filing, Jabong is holding out for $700 million as it reports to have multiple suitors.

     

    Denying commenting on the speculations, Amazon said, “We do not comment on anything we may or may not do in the future.”

     

    The report quoted a person working with the US e-tailer as saying that Jabong was ideal for acquisition since Flipkart had acquired Myntra in May for around $330 million.

     

    Flipkart-Myntra reportedly has 50 per cent of India’s online fashion retail market share with Jabong at 25 per cent.

     

    Amazon CEO Jeff Bozos had promised to invest $2 billion in its India operations with a big chunk of it going towards acquisitions.

     

    Fashion e-tailer Jabong is part of a global group after its investors German venture capital group Rocket Internet and with Swedish investor Kinnevik announcing a merger of five emerging market fashion start-ups. The merged entity is called Global Fashion Group (GFG) and worth about worth 2.7 billion euros or around Rs 21,000 crore.

     

    The company’s CEO Arun Chandra Mohan has also been pretty optimistic about the company’s outlook and had said in a recent interview to the paper said, “I believe the valuation of my company is going to be significant. We are going to be a billion dollar business.”

     

    Amazon India started offering fashion products on its marketplace in May, and an acquisition offers a swift route to scaling up. In the US, Amazon chose a similar strategy to improve its fashion credentials by buying Zappos in 2009. 

  • Affle acquires Appstudioz and sets up its global R&D centre in India

    Affle acquires Appstudioz and sets up its global R&D centre in India

    NEW DELHI: Mobile Apps & Ads service (MAAS) company Affle has acquired India based mobile technology company Appstudioz.

     

    Set up in 2011, Appstudioz platform has grown rapidly to help deliver a robust mobile application platform which is already being used by over 400 customers globally.

     

    Along with this, Affle has also set up a significant R&D facility in India to help strengthen its mobile app & ad technology platform. The Affle R&D centre in India is already over 200-member strong and is expected to grow significantly in months to come with new platform modules being rolled out.

     

    Affle founder, CEO and chairman Anuj Khanna Sohum said, “Over the last eight years, Affle has been focused on building next generation technology platforms to cater to the mobile industry. We saw challenges and complications within the current eco-system which required advertisers to work with multiple partners for development, attribution, analytics, media procurement and monetisation. We have thus unified our platforms to create the industry first end-to-end mobile marketing platform catering to advertisers, publishers and agencies. We are very excited by this acquisition and believe that the Appstudioz technologies would significantly strengthen our propositions and its team would form the nucleus of our growing R&D facility in India.”

     

    Co-founder & executive director Anuj Kumar added, “Our mobile ad platforms have matured over the years and in Appstudioz we found the perfect ally to strengthen our propositions for mobile apps, and thus build much greater value for our MAAS based approach. We are very happy and excited by this acquisition as this significantly strengthens our offering and unique position across markets. Being the largest mobile (internet) first market, we see India as a perfect location for doing cutting edge R&D for our businesses and the setting up of our global R&D centre here is a solid step forward for us and for the mobile industry in India. We expect our engineering team here to grow rapidly and help deliver to our global technology leadership aspirations.”

     

    Commenting on this acquisition, Appstudioz co-founder & managing director Saurabh Singhsaid, “Over the last three years we have seen rapid growth and progress at Appstudioz. We realised that to pursue greater global aspirations we needed to simplify our propositions and be part of a larger integrated platform. Affle through its unique approach provided us that and we are thus very excited by this association. We believe that through our integrated approach we now offer a much greater platform & service to our customers which should help build further growth momentum.”

     

    Appstudioz co-founder and executive director Abhinav Singh added, “This is a new phase for growth for Appstudioz and we are all very happy to become part of the Affle family. The integrations with Affle’s cutting edge technology platforms and global customer base would definitely help us chart even greater growth in years to come.”

     

    Through this acquisition, Appstudioz has now merged with Affle’s Media Lab business and has become a fully owned subsidiary of Affle Holdings Private Limited in Singapore.

     

    Affle is a Singapore headquartered, end-to-end Mobile Apps & Ads as Service (MAAS) platform for marketers & publishers, having started in 2006.

     

    Affle’s investors include D2C Japan (An NTT DoCoMo subsidiary), Microsoft Corporation, Itochu Corporation of Japan, Bennett Coleman Company Limited (BCCL) & Centurion Private Equity.

  • INOX makes third acquisition in a decade as it takes over Satyam chain of multiplexes

    INOX makes third acquisition in a decade as it takes over Satyam chain of multiplexes

    NEW DELHI: The total number of screens under the INOX umbrella has gone up to 514 screens in 127 properties in 64 cities after the acquisition of Satyam Cineplex for Rs 182 crore.

     

    INOX Leisure executed the transaction documents for acquisition of the New Delhi headquartered Satyam chain by way of acquiring 100 per cent equity share capital of Satyam from its existing shareholders, subject to closing.

     

    The proposed acquisition of one of the industry’s prime assets is a part of INOX’s strategy to expand its footprint across the country and gives INOX a significant foothold in the north Indian region.

     

    This marks the third acquisition for INOX in less than a decade. “Earlier, the company acquired Calcutta Cine in 2007, which triggered the consolidation phase in the multiplex industry. This was followed by the acquisition of Fame India in 2010,” INOX CEO Alok Tandon told indiantelevision.com.

     

    “The current acquisition would add 38 screens to INOX’s property,” he said.

     

    As INOX would be paying Rs 182 crore towards acquisition of these properties, the valuation of each screen works out to Rs 4.79 crore.

     

    He strongly denied charges that all multiplexes are highly priced, thus making them inaccessible to the average cinegoer. He said his group adopted what he called ‘flexi-pricing’ which allowed them to fix different rates for different days. Thus, the weekend may be expensive, but the price of the ticket on week-days starts from as low as Rs 55.

     

    Asked about creating a buzz about the new acquisitions, he said apart from press meets, print and social media would also be used to publicise the new takeover. 

     

    Earlier, Tandon said at a press meet, “We are looking forward to make this integration work positively for our stakeholders, INOX and Satyam employees as well as our guests. We look forward to a smooth merger of best practices of both the companies. We are excited and ready to bring in the best movie viewing experience to our guests in these multiplexes,” he added.

     

    INOX group director Deepak Asher said, “It has been our strategy to expand our multiplex business both organically and inorganically over the years. With this acquisition, we will strengthen our position further in the Industry as well as in the country, especially north India.”

     

    Sounding optimistic about the current acquisition, he went on to add, “Over the next few months, we will evaluate the full benefits of integration and consolidation, to drive competitive advantage across the value chain, and consider our strategic options in accordance with regulatory guidelines.”

     

    Satyam MD Deven Chachra said, “We have painstakingly built this business, and while it is hard to see that one has built with one’s own hands go, I have confidence and faith that INOX will nurture it and take it to greater heights.”

     

    Grant Thornton Advisory acted as sole financial advisors and Khaitan & Co acted as legal advisors to INOX Leisure. BMR Advisors acted as sole financial advisors and Luthra & Luthra Law Offices acted as legal advisors to the shareholders of Satyam Cineplexes.

  • Shareholders approve Zeel’s acquisition of DMCL’s media business undertaking

    Shareholders approve Zeel’s acquisition of DMCL’s media business undertaking

    MUMBAI: Another level gets cleared for Zee Entertainment’s (Zeel) proposed acquisition of Diligent Media Corporation’s (DMCL) media business undertaking. The court convened meeting on 4 June, saw majority of both equity and preference shareholders give their nod to the scheme of arrangement.

     

    Now, the approval needs to go through the Bombay High Court and other regulatory authorities such as the central government.

     

    Out of the 745419538 equity shares that were polled, 99.082 per cent were in favour of the decision while 99.437 per cent of the 13195108470 of the preference shares that were polled were in favour. In all, 97365 equity shareholders and 91076 preference shareholders voted in the meeting.

     

    With both giving majority approval, Zeel will look forward for the legal and regulatory approvals to also sail through, thus allowing it to completely own the media business undertaking of DMCL that involves events as well as a non-News channel licence and certain registered intellectual properties for TV formats of gaming-based shows.

     

    DMCL was formed in 2005 with a 50:50 JV between Essel Group and Dainik Bhaskar Corp (DB). In 2012, Essel Group bought out DB’s 50 per cent stake.

  • AT&T to buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion

    AT&T to buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion

    NEW DELHI: The American telecom giant AT&T has decided to take over pay TV brand DirecTV for $48.5 billion, but will sell its 73 million publicly listed shares from America Movil in Latin America considering the strong presence DirecTV has in the video market there.

     

    Combined the company would have roughly 26 million video subscribers, most from the DirecTV side, and a broadband network covering 70 million customer locations. 

     

    “This is an unique opportunity that will redefine the video entertainment industry and create a company that is able to offer new bundles and deliver content to consumers across multiple screens – mobile devices, TVs, laptops, cars and even airplanes,” said AT&T’s chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson in a statement.

     

    Meanwhile, the regulator is examining the three-month old proposal by Comcast Corp for a $45 billion takeover of Time Warner.

     

    AT&T will not pay any fee to DirecTV if they do not get approval from the regulator.

    Following the deal, the telecom giant will expand high-speed broadband to 15 million customer locations, primarily in rural areas, in four years.

     

    AT&T will acquire DirecTV in a stock-and-cash transaction for $95 per share based on last Friday closing price. DirecTV shareholders will own around 14.5 to 15.8 per cent of AT&T shares. AT&T expects cost synergies to exceed $1.6 billion on an annual run rate basis by three years after closing.

     

    DirecTV has 20.3 million American subscribers, while AT&T serves 5.6 million video customers connected to its U-Verse network. But DirecTV’s subscriber growth has slowed in recent months as it does not have a landline network to deliver high-speed internet services to homes, unlike phone and cable TV companies.

     

    The deal will assist DirecTV to take on the combined entity between Comcast and Time Warner Cable. If combined, AT&T-DirecTV would serve roughly 26 million pay-TV customers. That would be less than the 30 million Comcast would have if regulators approve its purchase of Time Warner Cable.

     

    The transaction enables the combined company to offer consumer bundles that include video, high-speed broadband and mobile services using all of its sales channels — AT&T’s 2,300 retail stores and thousands of authorised dealers and agents of both companies, an AT&T spokesperson said.

     

    For customers who only want a broadband service and may choose to use video through an over-the-top (OTT) service like Netflix or Hulu, the combined company will offer stand-alone wireline broadband service at speeds of at least 6 Mbps (where feasible) in areas where AT&T offers wireline IP broadband service at guaranteed prices for three years.

     

    AT&T will continue to offer DirecTV service on a stand-alone basis at nationwide package prices for at least three years after closing.

     

    In 2015, AT&T will bid at least $9 billion provided there is sufficient spectrum available in the auction to provide AT&T a viable path to at least a 2×10 MHz nationwide spectrum footprint. 

     

  • Suntory Holdings completes acquisition of Beam Inc.

    Suntory Holdings completes acquisition of Beam Inc.

    MUMBAI: Suntory Holdings and Beam Inc announced that Suntory has completed the acquisition of all the outstanding shares of Beam for $83.50 per share on 30 April.

     

    As a result of the transaction, Beam has been renamed Beam Suntory.  The new company intends to integrate the spirits business of Suntory Liquors before the end of this year. The transaction creates a company with the strong number three position in the global premium spirits market.  Beam Suntory will be headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois and led by chairman and chief executive officer Matt Shattock, who has been CEO of Beam since 2009.

     

     

    Looking ahead, Beam Suntory aims to achieve growth in markets worldwide, including the United States, the world’s largest spirits market, by leveraging its combined portfolio of leading brands, and its strengthened global distribution network.

     

     

     “By combining the world leader in Bourbon and Japan’s leading spirits company, we have created a stronger global business with an even better premium portfolio,” said Shattock. 

     

     

    The company’s portfolio is led by its flagship brands Jim Beam and Yamazaki, as well as world renown premium brands including Maker’s Mark, Knob Creek, Hakushu, Hibiki, Kakubin, Teacher’s, Laphroaig, Bowmore, Canadian Club, Courvoisier, Sauza, Pinnacle and Midori.

     

     

     “We believe the new Beam Suntory will grow by pursuing the global strategy that made Beam so successful,” Shattock added.  “We will be focused on continuing our momentum, growing in developed and emerging markets, and building on our combined strengths.  Those strengths include a dynamic portfolio across key categories, powerful routes to market and passionate people.  I’m particularly excited about what brings us together – a strong cultural fit based on the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit of two companies with common values and proud heritages rooted in multi-generational family businesses. We look forward to learning from each other and to creating a future of exciting growth for our business and opportunities for our people.”

     

     

     “I am very delighted with the launch of Beam Suntory, which unites Beam and Suntory’s spirits businesses, and I truly believe Beam Suntory will continue to grow strongly in the global spirits industry,” said Suntory Holdings president and chairman Nobutada Saji.

     

    “Since its founding, Suntory Group has always shared the spirit of ‘Yatte Minahare – Go for it!’ in taking on new challenges, creating new opportunities, and living our corporate values.  Beam’s heritage of over 200 years is also characterized by a spirit of entrepreneurialism, creativity and courageous decisions that exemplify the same ‘Yatte Minahare’ spirit.  I believe this common spirit and our combined strengths will be a powerful driving force as the new Beam Suntory excites consumers around the world with our portfolio of premium brands.  At the same time, Beam Suntory will remain true to Suntory’s corporate philosophy, ‘In Harmony with People and Nature,’ in developing a rich experience of life based on real needs in the communities  in which we do business, coexisting with people and their nature surroundings.”