Hinduja Ventures Ltd restructures media biz

Hinduja Ventures Limited (HVL) will be investing Rs. 3 billion as part of the restructuring of its media vertical. The company is taking the step in an effort to create synergies across its media businesses. This is the money that HVL has raised through its wholly owned subsidiary Grant Investrade in December 2013.

The company also announced that Ravi Mansukhani, MD and CEO of HVL's flagship cable company IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (IMCL) will be stepping down from his post and Tony D'silva, currently president HVL will be replacing him with immediate effect. D'silva will also take on the mantle of group CEO of the restructured media business entity -  Media of HVL. He will be responsible for chalking out the business plan for the media business with its various verticals.

Under the restructured form, the media business of HVL will include five verticals – In Entertainment (erstwhikle Cable Video India Ltd.) which looks after the content, niche channels and film financing business, Shop 24X7 the teleshopping business, In Digital – the digital cable arm, In Cable Net – the analgue cable arm and Grant Investrade – the vertical that looks after the Headends in the Sky (HITS) project.

Each of these verticals has a head and all the heads will report to D'silva. He has been associated with Hinduja Ventures Ltd for last 1.5 years and has more than four decades of experience spread across media, FMCG and pharma sectors.

D’silva began his media foray in 1992 as CEO of Modi Entertainment and in 1997 helped ZEE TV launch its international business in UK. Upon his return to India in 2001, he joined Star as Executive Vice President and consolidated its TV business. He joined the Sun Group in 2007 to set up Sun Direct DTH as CEO, and then took over as the Group CEO, overseeing its entire media business including TV, print and radio.