NW18, TV18 gain as RIL completes takeover

Network 18 Media & Investments and TV18 Broadcast rose by 1.83% to 1.95% at 10:33 IST on BSE after Reliance Industries announced that Independent Media Trust has completed the acquisition of control of both these companies.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 67 points, or 0.26%, to 26,033.08

Network 18 Media & Investments (NW18) rose 1.83% to Rs 61.15. The stock hit a high of Rs 63.05 and a low of Rs 60.30 so far during the day. On BSE, so far 55,236 shares were traded in the NW18 counter.

TV18 Broadcast (TV18) rose 1.95% to Rs 31.40. The stock hit a high of Rs 31.50 and a low of Rs 31 so far during the day. On BSE, so far 8.43 lakh shares were traded in the TV18 counter.

Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 0.53% to Rs 1,021. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,034.45 and a low of Rs 1,018.05 so far during the day. On BSE, so far 95,927 shares were traded in the RIL counter.

Reliance Industries (RIL) announced after market hours on Monday, 7 July 2014, that Independent Media Trust (IMT) of which RIL is the sole beneficiary, has completed the acquisition of control of NW18 including its subsidiary TV18.

With the completion of this transaction, IMT and RIL have become promoters of NW18 and TV18. The open offers to the public shareholders for acquisition of equity shares of NW18, TV18 and Infomedia Press as announced on 29 May 2014 by IMT are in process and the draft letter of offer has been filed with Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for its comments, RIL said in a statement.

NW18 said after market hours on Monday, 7 July 2014 that the company's board of directors at its meeting held on Monday, 7 July 2014 have considered and approved that Deepak Parekh and Adil Zainulbhai have been inducted as Independent Directors on the board of NW18. Raghav Bahl will continue to be on the board as a non-executive director, NW18 said. Rohit Bansal and Vinay Chhajlani have also been appointed as non-executive directors of NW18, the company said.

In May 2014, RIL announced that it will acquire control in NW18, including its subsidiary TV18, for Rs 4000 crore.

It may be recalled that in January 2012, Network18 Group and RIL had joined hands for a multi-layered deal, under which RIL would sell part of its interest in ETV channels and would get access to content and distribution assets of the electronic media group.

The Network18 Group is a media and entertainment company with interests in television, internet, films, e-commerce, magazines, mobile content and allied businesses. Through its subsidiary and investee companies Network18 also operates e-commerce properties like HomeShop18 and bookmyshow.com and publishes Forbes India, in collaboration with Forbes Media Inc.

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