NDTV, The Hindu break away from joint venture

New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) and promoters of The Hindu newspaper, Kasturi and Sons Ltd (KSL), have decided to sell their joint venture 'NDTV Hindu' to the Daily Thanthi group, one of the biggest media houses in Tamil Nadu.

The total sale consideration is around Rs 15 crore. The JV partners are exiting the venture with a loss of around Rs 20 crore, said a senior official. In June , Business Standard had reported that NDTV and The Hindu were planning to sell their stakes. NDTV-Hindu was launched in mid-2009. The channel was Chennai's first city-specific English news and entertainment channel.

NDTV's announcement to the Bombay Stock Exchange said the company had entered into an agreement with KSL to sell their respective stakes in Metronation Chennai Television Ltd (MNC) to Educational Trustee Company Pvt Ltd (ETCPL), promoters of the leading Tamil daily Dina Thanthi. MNC shall become a 100 per cent subsidiary of ETCPL on completion of the transaction.

A senior official said the cumulative loss from the time of the inception of the JV, was Rs 30 crore to Rs 35 crore, including the Rs 5 crore share capital by The Hindu and a similar amount by NDTV.