Time Warner Inc. (TWX), a global leader in media and entertainment businesses, recently declared that its Board of Directors has consented to the acquisition of NDTV Imagine Limited, which owns one of the leading Hindi-language entertainment channels and other entertainment subsidiaries in India , such as NDTV Imagine Pictures Ltd, Alliance Lumiere Limited and Imagine Showbiz Limited.
NDTV Imagine Limited, a subsidiary of NDTV Networks, will be acquired by Turner Asia Pacific Ventures, a Time Warner company for $126.5 million, resulting in a 92% stake in Imagine. The current NDTV Imagine management, ESOP holders and NDTV Networks will continue to hold the remaining 8% stake.
Last month, Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) acquired a 69% ownership interest in NDTV Lifestyle, another subsidiary of NDTV Networks for $55 million. NDTV Lifestyle runs the top-ranked English-language lifestyle channel, NDTV Good Times, in India.
The acquisition of NDTV Imagine gives Time Warner, the owner of CNN and the Warner Bros. film studio, another avenue for growth, expanding its international portfolio. Time Warner, which currently distributes Cartoon Network, POGO, and HBO, an English entertainment channel in India, aims to grab a major chunk of the rapidly growing Indian media and entertainment market.
Sameer Nair, the CEO of NDTV Imagine, will continue in this position after the conclusion of the transaction, and will work in close co-operation with Turner’s senior management.
Earlier this month, Time Warner announced the completion of the spin-off of its troubled web media unit, AOL, Inc. (AOL). Time Warner investors will receive one AOL share for 11 Time Warner shares they own, and any fractional AOL shares will be compensated by a cash payment.
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