Viacom to file afresh as FIPB rejects proposal for acquiring stake in ETV’s R-GECs

[Thakur]

Viacom Inc will file a fresh application after the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) rejected its proposal to acquire 50 per cent stake in five regional general entertainment channels of ETV (now rebranded as Colors).

In October last year, Viacom had applied to the FIPB via Nickelodeon Asia Holdings Pte Ltd (Singapore) to purchase the entire holdings of Shinano Retail Pvt Ltd (India) in Prism TV Pvt Ltd. Prism TV owns five TV channels—Colors Marathi, Colors Kannada, Colors Bangla, Colors Gujarati, and Colors Odia.

After being deferred multiple times, the application was rejected on 5 May. Sources said that the application was rejected because some additional documents were needed. The company is filing a fresh application with the necessary documents.

TelevisionPost.com had earlier reported that upon Viacom getting the necessary approvals, the five channels would be merged with Viacom18 Media, the 50:50 joint venture between TV18 and Viacom

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http://www.televisionpost.com/television/viacom-to-file-afresh-as-fipb-rejects-proposal-for-acquiring-stake-in-etvs-r-gecs/