ITV

Tag: Kalanithi Maran

  • Sun TV has big bang debut on BSE; closes 68% higher at Rs 1466.05

    Sun TV has big bang debut on BSE; closes 68% higher at Rs 1466.05

    MUMBAI: The Kalanidhi Maran promoted and Chennai-headquartered broadcaster Sun Television Limited got listed on the bourses on Monday with a huge bang. The scrip has been greeted with a lot of excitement and closed the day’s trading 67.55 per cent higher at Rs 1466.05 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

    A total of 5,298,695 shares were traded on the opening day.

    At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the scrip had an overall gain of 67.39 per cent and closed the day at Rs 1464.65. A volume of 11,585,515 shares have been traded on day one.

    Just how bullish the bourses are is about the scrip can be garnered from comments made by market analyst Rajesh Jain of Pranav Securities to CNBC TV18, where he said Sun TV should be part of every investor’s portfolio.

    Said Jain, “I would ride this Sun TV story. I might add on declines, if the strip does give that opportunity. Sun TV is a super pedigree media stock. It has been the leader in the south for almost a decade.

    “I think it would even rate better than some of the older plays available in the media space.”

    The scrip, which was offered through initial public offer (IPO) early this month at a tag price of Rs 875 per share, listed at Rs 1,111 on the BSE and Rs 1,000 on the NSE. Its BSE ID is 532733 and its NSE ID is SUNTV.

    In its IPO, Sun had come out with a fresh equity issue of 68,89,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash, made entirely through the book building route.

    The issue constituted 10 per cent of the fully diluted post issue paid-up capital of the company. Following the issue, the shareholding of Sun TV Ltd principal promoter Kalanithi Maran has reduced to 89.99 per cent from 99.99 per cent (61,999,969 shares).

  • Isro schedules Insat 4C launch for July

    Isro schedules Insat 4C launch for July

    MUMBAI: All indications point to the second half of the year being when we will see some fresh action on the direct-to-home (DTH) television services front. Even as the timeline for the Tata Sky DTH service looks to be June-July, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is all set to launch Insat 4C, the latest in the Insat series, in July.

    Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Group, which has booked space on Insat 4C, is negotiating with Isro for eight Ku-band transponders. Earlier Sun had indicated that it would start its Sun Direct DTH service with five transponders which it would ramp up to nine.

    “Sun now wants to start with eight transponders. The company is in discussions with Isro,” an industry source says.

    Though Insat 4C has a capacity of 12 Ku-band transponders, the problem with Isro is that it has got demand from other operators as well. The government requires four transponders for village telephony over a period of time. Even National Informatics Centre (NIC) has asked for four transponders to start with. “We have committed to giving them one transponder each. We may give some transponders to NIC on Insat 4B, which is slated for launch in the first quarter of 2007 as we have to coordinate with the launch vehicle (Arianespace’s commercial launcher Ariane 5),” says Isro contract management and legal services director SB Iyer.

    Isro will also be handing over two Ku-band transponders to media companies for digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) activities. “DSNG is a fast-growing segment. We are providing two transponders for DSNG operators,” Iyer says.

    With one-to-two transponders reserved for spare capacity, Sun may have to finally settle for less than what it wants. But Isro will allocate transponders to customers who are ready to take them first.

    Meanwhile, Anil Ambani’s Reliance has also booked space for its own DTH plans. As things stand now, there may be no room even on Insat 4B as the space on Insat 4B is reserved for Doordarshan which wants six Ku-band transponders at the minimum.

    Subhash Chandra’s Dish TV, which is on NSS satellite, has not yet indicated to Isro whether it wants space on the Insat series. BPCL, the other player which is waiting to launch, has also not applied to Isro for transponder space.

    Insat 4C will be put into orbit in July by the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-5 (GSLV), to be launched from Isro’s Sriharikota facility.

    With 12 high power Ku-band transponders, Insat 4C is the first Indian satellite to exclusively offer DTH playout facilities. The satellite will have the capacity to beam about 150 television channels in all.

    The other two satellites of the Insat 4 series — 4A and 4B — have both Ku-band and C-band capacity, carrying 12 transponders of each. Insat 4A launched last December.

    Isro has already allocated all the 12 transponders on Insat 4A for Tata Sky, the 80:20 joint venture between the Tatas and Star Group.

  • Sun TV raises Rs 6.3 billion through IPO

    Sun TV raises Rs 6.3 billion through IPO

    MUMBAI: Sun TV Ltd. is set to fix a price of Rs 875 per share, mopping up Rs 6.3 billion ($134.2 million) from its initial public offering (IPO) of 6.9 million shares.

    The IPO has received an overwhelming response and has been oversubscribed 47.05 .times. Total bids received from investors stood at 324110480. Sun had fixed Rs 875 as the price at the top end.

    The IPO offered a fresh equity issue of 68,89,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash. The shareholding of Sun TV Ltd principal promoter Kalanithi Maran will now reduce to 89.99 per cent from 99.99 per cent (61,999,969 shares).

  • Sun TV to consolidate radio assets in Kal Radio, South Asia FM

    Sun TV to consolidate radio assets in Kal Radio, South Asia FM

    MUMBAI: Sun TV is transferring the existing licenses of its operational radio stations to the subsidiary companies – Kal Radio Ltd and South Asia FM Ltd.

    The company has applied to the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) for approval. The plan is to consolidate Sun’s FM radio assets in Kal Radio and South Asia FM, the two subsidiaries who have bid for licenses under Phase II of FM radio expansion.

    Sun’s existing FM radio operations are in four cities. Suryan FM has licenses and operates in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli. Udaya TV Pvt Ltd. operates Vishaka FM in Visakhapatnam and has also applied to the MIB for the transfer of the license to Kal Radio.

    Some analysts expect radio operations to contribute to 20 per cent of Sun’s total revenues by FY 2008. Suryan FM generated 9.3 per cent and 8.8 per cent of the total advertising income of Sun TV for fiscal 2005 and nine months ended 31 December 2005. Suryan FM was launched in Coimbatore and Tirunelveli in March and in Chennai in May 2003.

    Sun TV is using the radio vehicle to expand to language markets other than Tamil and Malayalam. It plans to set up and operationalise FM radio stations in 41 cities across the country. Kal Radio has bid for stations like Bangalore and Hyderabad in the southern region while South Asia will operate in the other markets including cities like Pune, Ahmedabad and Allahabad.

    Sun TV will use a major chunk of the proceeds from the initial public offering (IPO) to capitalise the radio business. The company aims to raise Rs 6.03 billion at the top end of the price band at Rs 875 per share.

    Kal and South Asia FM would require an approximate of Rs 1.83 billion towards acquisition of broadcasting equipement (FM transmitters, FM antennas, payment of common infrastructure), setting up of local offices and radio studios. Besides, the inter-corporate deposits provided to the subsidiaries for bidding in Phase II amounted to around Rs 1.55 billion.

    The public issue opens on 3 April and will close on 7 April.

    Sun TV owns 89 per cent in Kal Radio and 94.91 per cent in South Asia FM. Promoter Kalanithi Maran holds 10.5 per cent in Kal Radio and 5.1 per cent in South Asia FM.