ITV

Tag: Deals

  • SPNI and Zeel sign definite agreements to merge

    SPNI and Zeel sign definite agreements to merge

    Mumbai: Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPNI) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zeel) announced early on Wednesday that they have signed definitive agreements to merge Zeel with and into SPNI and combine their linear networks, digital assets, production operations, and program libraries.

    The agreements follow the conclusion of an exclusive negotiation period during which Zeel and SPNI conducted mutual due diligence. After closing, the new combined company will be publicly listed in India. The closing of the transaction is, however, subject to certain customary closing conditions, including regulatory, shareholder, and third-party approvals.

    Under the terms of the definitive agreements, SPNI will have cash balance of $1.5 billion closing, including through infusion by the current shareholders of SPNI and the promoters (founders) of Zeel, to enable the combined company to drive sharper content creation across platforms, strengthen its footprint in the rapidly evolving digital ecosystem, bid for media rights in the fast-growing sports landscape and pursue other growth opportunities.

    SPNI is an indirect subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc (SPE). Under the transactions contemplated by a non-compete agreement, SPE, through a subsidiary, will pay a non-compete fee to certain promoters (founders) of Zeel, which will be used by such promoters (founders) to infuse primary equity capital into SPNI, entitling the promoters (founders) of Zeel to acquire shares of SPNI, which would eventually equal approximately 2.11 per cent of the shares of the combined company on a post-closing basis. After the closing, SPE will indirectly hold a majority 50.86 per cent of the combined company, the promoters (founders) of Zeel will hold 3.99 per cent, and the other Zeel shareholders will hold a 45.15 per cent stake.

    Punit Goenka to lead the combined entity

    Punit Goenka will lead the combined company as its managing director & CEO. The majority of the board of directors of the combined company will be nominated by the Sony Group and will include the current SPNI managing director and CEO, N P Singh. On closing, Singh will assume a broader executive position at SPE as chairman, Sony Pictures India (a division of SPE) reporting to SPE’s chairman of Global Television Studios and SPE Corporate Development Ravi Ahuja.

    “It is a significant milestone for all of us, as two leading media & entertainment companies join hands to drive the next era of entertainment filled with immense opportunities. The combined company will create a comprehensive entertainment business, enabling us to serve our consumers with wider content choices across platforms,” said Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka. “This merger presents a significant opportunity to jointly take the businesses to the next level and drive substantial growth in the global arena.”

    Synergy in Scripted, factual, and sports programming

    The combination of Zeel and SPNI is expected to achieve business synergies and given their relative strengths in scripted, factual and sports programming, respective distribution footprints across India and iconic entertainment brands, the combined company try to meet the growing consumer demand for premium content across entertainment touchpoints and platforms.

    As part of the definitive agreements, the promoters (founders) of Zeel have agreed to limit the equity that they may own in the combined company to 20 per cent of its outstanding shares. “This construct does not provide the promoters (founders) of Zeel any pre-emptive or other rights to acquire equity of the combined company from the Sony Group, the combined company or any other party. Any shares purchased by the promoters (founders) of ZEEL, must be in compliance with all applicable laws including any pricing guidelines,” it said in a statement.

     “Today marks an important step in our efforts to bring together some of the strongest leadership teams, content creators, and film libraries in the media business to create extraordinary entertainment and value for Indian consumers,” said SPE’s chairman of Global Television Studios and SPE Corporate Development Ravi Ahuja. “I especially want to thank N P Singh, who presented us with the idea to explore this merger well over a year ago.”

    SPNI MD and CEO N P Singh said the merger will create a company that will redefine the contours of the media and entertainment industry. “As a representative of SPE on the Board of the new merged company, it will be my endeavour to provide strategic guidance and support to the company’s operating team in achieving our vision,” he added.

  • GOSF: Bringing out the shopping bug

    GOSF: Bringing out the shopping bug

    MUMBAI: The e-commerce sector is booming and how. The very purple patch, every now and then, gets a boost with OTT sale bonanzas.

    The addictive online shopping portals lured customers through Big Billion Sale or Diwali Dhamaka Week throughout this year, but the icing on the cake has been the Google promoted Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF).

    The 72 hour shopping festival was expected to bring out the crazy shopaholic within us all, and if stats are to be believed then it has succeeded in many ways. For instance, in  December LimeRoad, witnessed explosive growth that sent its implied revenue run rate shooting up to Rs 450 crore on the first day of GOSF 2014 – this despite the platform being only focused on women.

    Quick deliveries, cash on delivery, and big deals have made it hard for even non-shoppers to resist the temptation to shop online.

    The portals too are glad to have made the most of it.

    “Successful in creating a delightful shopping frenzy, Google Online Shopping Festival this year has witnessed a great response from the consumers. Three days of this shopping carnival is not less than some annual festival that customers await around this time of the year. On the first day itself, we have observed an extraordinary leap with our revenue rising four times compared to our sales on any regular day.  There has been a rise in revenue from mobile at least by six times as compared to the last GOSF.  Even the traffic from GOSF on the website has significantly risen by eight times as compared to the last year. This tremendous excitement shown by our customers has made us open doors to some of the best offers from exclusive brands like River Island, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and more. All in all, we are geared to double the excitement and make this festival bigger, better and brighter like never before,” said Jabong.com founder and MD Praveen Sinha.

    Added, LimeRoad founder and CEO Suchi Mukherjee, “Whilst the growth in sales is interesting and a reflection of our non-linear growth curve throughout the rest of this year, we are super delighted both at the scale and at the trajectory of our organic traffic.”

    Speaking about the response on GOSF 2014, CouponDunia.in CEO and founder Sameer Parwani said, “So far we have seen a very good response to GOSF. Our traffic increased 4X as compared to the daily traction on the website. There was a massive spike as soon as GOSF started during midnight however the traffic peaked the highest on the first day of GOSF during lunch hours.”

    However, he believes that GOSF 2014 was comparatively lukewarm if 2013 edition is taken into account. One of the reasons for this is the kind and number of deals merchants provided compared to GOSF last year or even for that matter deals during Diwali, a few months back. “GOSF 2014 deals were both, less in number and not providing as deep discounts as we’d expected. Also some of the bigger players, have already exhausted their best offers due to their own festivals like Flipkart’s Big Billion Day, Amazon’s Appiness day and Snapdeal’s ongoing 9am to 9pm shopping fest. Most of them have offered almost 40-50 per cent discounts on regular days or their special days, so they do not have anything bigger than that to offer at the moment.”

    He also added, “As a result of frequent online shopping festivals, these festivals are no longer a novelty factor for the consumer. They have higher expectations and expect the best from everyone and are not impressed easily now it is the e-tailer’s turn to come up with better and bigger deals every festival to meet these demands and expectations.”