Zee Group may acquire TV 9

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Zee group is likely to buy a majority stake in Hyderabad-based media firm Associated Broadcasting Company Private Limited (ABCL), which owns a bouquet of regional news channels under the brand name TV 9. Two independent sources confirmed the development.


Venture capitalist Chintalapati Srinivasa Raju (Srini Raju) owns about 60 per cent stake in ABCL, US-based private equity firm Saif Partners holds 20 per cent while the TV9 founder and Chief Executive Officer Ravi Prakash and his associates hold the remaining 20 per cent stake.


Raju and Saif partners have been waiting for the desired valuations to sell their stake for quite some time now.


Incorporated in May, 2003, ABCL had started with first 24-hour Telugu news channel under brand name TV9 in the following year and subsequently expanded to other regional languages. It currently runs 7 news channels including the TV9 Kannada, TV 9 Marathi and the popular TV 9 Gujarati news channels.

According to sources, the deal between the promoters of ABCL and Zee Group was finalised and the entire transaction was expected to be closed in a couple of months time. Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee group was one of the four companies that had signed non-disclosure agreements with the promoters of ABCL some time back, said a senior official in ABCL.


However, the details of the proposed transaction, in terms of percentage of equity being acquired by the Subhash Chandra promoted company, or the deal value was undisclosed. An email sent to Zee spoksperson remained unanswered till the time of going to press. ABCL officials said they have not reached any agreement with anybody with regard to stake sale.
"Private equity investors typically follow 7-year horizon for their exit strategy while our investors stayed with the company for 12 years. We have been in touch with a couple of people for possible stake sale. But no final decision has been taken till now," TV9 founder and CEO Ravi Prakash said in response to a question on the likely acquisition of TV9.


Zee group, which runs 35 news and entertainment channels in Hindi, English and other major languages, had closed down its Telugu news channel about 4 years ago. The possible buy out of TV 9 gives Zee group an opportunity to reenter the Telugu market on the back of a strong local brand and would also help it to expand its presence in important markets like Gujarat.

Srini Raju promoted iLabs Capital, which was later became Peepul Capital LLC, had invested around Rs 80 crore from its first round of fund in ABCL way back in 2004. Saif Partners acquired 20 per cent stake from Peepul Capital in the year 2009.

Zee Group may acquire TV 9 | Business Standard News
 
TV9 network on sale; Zee group front-runner?


Consolidation in the Indian news television business is but a foregone conclusion, thanks to the plethora of channels operating in the space. The only question is when and who.

Well, here’s another news television network which is possibly on the auctioneer’s table. Associated Broadcasting Co Pvt Ltd is reportedly looking for a buyer for its seven regional TV news channel bouquet under the TV9 brand, says a report by Business Standard this morning. ABCL employs over 5000 people across three countries.


The report also quotes TV9 founder & CEO Ravi Prakash saying that “private equity investors typically follow a seven-year horizon for their exit strategy while our investors stayed with the company for 12 years. We have been in touch with a couple of people for possible stake sale. But no final decision has been taken till now."

The front-runner in this stake sale is reportedly the cash-rich Subhash Chandra-run Zee TV group.

The investors of TV 9 had reportedly been seeking the right valuation for a majority stake sale and Zee seems to be up for it. The Zee group is likely to purchase a majority stake in ABCL, the Hyderabad-based media firm, which owns the TV9 brand.

Chintalapati Srinivasa Raju, a venture capitalist, owns around 60 per cent of ABCL, Saif Partners, the US-based private equity firm, holds around 20 per cent while TV9 CEO and ABCL founder Ravi Prakash and his associates own the remaining 20 per cent stake.

Under CEO Ravi Prakash's leadership, ABCL's mission has been to continually advance and improve the dissemination and quality of news and bring to viewers media services in their local languages. ABCL covers television, filmed entertainment, cable network programming, internet services operating direct broadcast satellite television, in India, United States of America and Africa.

ABCL CFO MKVN Murthy brought to TV9 rich acumen gained decades of experience in the entertainment and communications industry. In addition, he has a deep understanding of the ins and outs of cable and satellite distribution platforms. Murthy has been the lead player in the company's aggressive expansion to new markets in Karnataka, Gujarat, Mumbai and its partnership forays into Kerala and Kolkata.

Saif Partners and Raju have reportedly been waiting for the expected valuations to sell their ABCL stake for quite some time now.

Incorporated in May, 2003, ABCL had started with first 24-hour Telugu news channel under TV9 in the following year and expanded subsequently to other regional languages. It currently runs seven news channels including the TV9 Kannada, TV 9 Marathi and the popular TV 9 Gujarati news.

The deal between the promoters of ABCL and Zee Group is expected to be closed in a couple of months, sources said. Zee was one of the four companies that had signed NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) with the promoters of ABCL some time ago, a senior ABCL official said.

Zee group, which runs 35 news and entertainment channels in Hindi, English and other major languages, had closed down its Telugu news channel around four years ago. The potential purchase TV 9 may give Zee an opportunity to re-enter the Telugu market on the strength of a strong local brand and would also help it to expand its presence in important markets such as Gujarat, the Business Standard report explains.

TV9 network on sale; Zee group front-runner? | Indian Television Dot Com
 
MUMBAI: After Mukesh Ambani-controlled TV18 Broadcast launched news channels in several regional-language markets to expand its footprint, it is the turn of Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Media Corporation Ltd (ZMCL) to exploit growth opportunities.

Hyderabad-based media firm Associated Broadcasting Company Private Limited (ABCL), which has been looking to sell stake for long, is reportedly in talks with ZMCL to offload majority stake. ABCL runs a clutch of regional news channels under the TV9 brand.

As on 31 March 2015, iLabs Venture Capital Fund and Chintalapati Holdings Pvt Ltd (CHPL) hold 17.63% and 71.06%, respectively, in ABCPL. TV9 founder and CEO Ravi Prakash and his associates hold the remaining stake.

Zee group is likely to pick up majority stake in ABCL, the Business Standard reported. The transaction is expected to close in a couple of months, according to the daily.

ABCPL was promoted by Ravi Prakash with seed capital from Srinivasa Raju through his investment firm iLabs and CHPL in 2003. The Telugu news channel TV9 was launched in 2004. The company currently runs a slew of regional news channels, including TV9 Kannada, TV9 Marathi and TV9 Gujarati.

“Private equity investors typically follow 7-year horizon for their exit strategy while our investors stayed with the company for 12 years. We have been in touch with a couple of people for possible stake sale. But no final decision has been taken till now,” Prakash told BS.

Though ABCL is privately held, it is learnt that the company posted a net profit of Rs 18.09 crore in the first 10 months of FY16 on a revenue of Rs 157.85 crore.

ABCL reported a net profit of Rs 4.99 crore in FY15 compared to Rs 2.52 crore a year ago. Revenue stood at Rs 157.07 crore in FY15 compared to Rs 159 crore in the earlier year.

Zee Media reportedly in talks to acquire TV9 | TelevisionPost.com
 
Zee Group likely to acquire TV9

Zee group is likely to buy a majority stake in Hyderabad-based media firm Associated Broadcasting Company Private Limited (ABCL), which owns a bouquet of regional news channels under the brand name TV 9. Two independent sources confirmed the development.


Venture capitalist Chintalapati Srinivasa Raju (Srini Raju) owns about 60 per cent stake in ABCL, US-based private equity firm Saif Partners holds 20 per cent while the TV9 founder and Chief Executive Officer Ravi Prakash and his associates hold the remaining 20 per cent stake.


Raju and Saif partners have been waiting for the desired valuations to sell their stake for quite some time now.
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Incorporated in May, 2003, ABCL had started with first 24-hour Telugu news channel under brand name TV9 in the following year and subsequently expanded to other regional languages. It currently runs 7 news channels including the TV9 Kannada, TV 9 Marathi and the popular TV 9 Gujarati news channels.
According to sources, the deal between the promoters of ABCL and Zee Group was finalised and the entire transaction was expected to be closed in a couple of months time. Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee group was one of the four companies that had signed non-disclosure agreements with the promoters of ABCL some time back, said a senior official in ABCL.


However, the details of the proposed transaction, in terms of percentage of equity being acquired by the Subhash Chandra promoted company, or the deal value was undisclosed. An email sent to Zee spoksperson remained unanswered till the time of going to press. ABCL officials said they have not reached any agreement with anybody with regard to stake sale.


"Private equity investors typically follow 7-year horizon for their exit strategy while our investors stayed with the company for 12 years. We have been in touch with a couple of people for possible stake sale. But no final decision has been taken till now," TV9 founder and CEO Ravi Prakash said in response to a question on the likely acquisition of TV9.


Zee group, which runs 35 news and entertainment channels in Hindi, English and other major languages, had closed down its Telugu news channel about 4 years ago. The possible buy out of TV 9 gives Zee group an opportunity to reenter the Telugu market on the back of a strong local brand and would also help it to expand its presence in important markets like Gujarat.


Srini Raju promoted iLabs Capital, which was later became Peepul Capital LLC, had invested around Rs 80 crore from its first round of fund in ABCL way back in 2004. Saif Partners acquired 20 per cent stake from Peepul Capital in the year 2009.

Zee Group likely to acquire TV9 | Business Standard News
 
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