The much-publicised, much-delayed and also much-denied sale of popular news channel TV9 has at last become reality.
According to reliable sources, the deal was struck at a whopping Rs 500 crore. An uncertain amount is likely to be paid to the promoters on Wednesday.
For quite some time, TV9 promoter Srini Raju had been trying to get out of the channel by disposing of his 80 per cent stake, but he could not get an attractive offer. At last, he seems to have got an offer which he could not reject.
It is learnt Raju is going to float a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and transfer his entire stake to this SPV to sell it to the new promoters.
Sources said even the remaining stakeholders, including chief executive officer Ravi Prakash, also agreed to transfer their stakes in the present group company Associated Broadcasting Company Limited (ABCL) to the new SPV.
Though it is yet to be officially known who the new promoters who are going to buy the stakes in the SPV are, sources said they are none other than infrastructure giant Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) promoted by Krishna Reddy and My Home group promoted by real estate tycoon Rameshwar Rao.
However, Megha will have the lion's share, while My Home will have minor share in TV9, sources said.
It is not exactly known whether Ravi Prakash will also dispose off his shares to the new group or retain his stake in the SPV and continue as CEO.
It is interesting to note that the deal is being struck at a time the election season has begun all over the country.
TV9 has several regional channels, like in Kannada, Gujarati and Marathi, besides Telugu.
Despite strong competition from other channels, TV9 has been maintaining its No.1 position in the electronic media in the Telugu states, though it was also caught in various controversies of late.
It is learnt Srini Raju is feeling relieved now with the latest deal which is going to be formalised in a day or two.
By the way, this is the third Telugu news channel which has gone up for sale in the recent past, the other two being 10TV and 99TV.
Watch out for more developments very shortly.
