TV9 Owners To Change, Deal worth Rs.500 cr? - iLabs Owner Srini Raju sold his stake
The ownership of the leading news channel, TV9, is all set to change the hands!
Srini Raju of Peepul Investments (originally iLabs) and his partners have sold their stake to a private equity company based in Mumbai. This company, in turn, represents a group of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).
According to a blog post in a popular website called The South Reports, the deal is worth over Rs. 500 crores. It is said that Srini Raju and his partners inked the deal with the new owners in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The TV9 is expected to make a formal announcement about the change in ownership over the "next few weeks,'' it said quoting sources. Srini Raju will continue to hold a residual stake in TV9 till all regulatory approvals are obtained which may take a couple of months.
It is said that the channel will shift its base of operations from Hyderabad to Mumbai after the regulatory agencies approve the ownership change.
The sources said that the current editorial and management leadership of TV9, headed by Ravi Prakash, is expected to continue in their current roles till the management settles down and takes a call on the way forward for TV9.
Ravi Prakash is also believed to be having a small stake in TV9, though the exact extent of his shareholding is not known.
It may be recalled that TV9 was launched in 2003. Over the past eight years, it has grown into a bouquet of channels -- seven in all -- all providing news and talks shows, in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Gujarati.
Comments
Post a Comment