Atn Offers To Sell Majority Stake For Rs 60 Crore

Big corporate houses, including the Hindujas and Vijay Mallya-controlled UB group, have been approached by the promoter of ATN, Siddhartha Srivastava, to pick up a majority stake in the satellite channel.

ATN is willing to sell a majority stake, at least 51 per cent, for Rs 60 crore.

Earlier, negotiations for a deal with Lalit Modi, who controls Modi Entertainment Network, had fallen through as the two parties failed to agree on the price.

ATN has been negotiating with various business houses, including financial investors, for investments in the 24-hour entertainment channel, the oldest satellite channel in the country. According to sources in the cable and satellite television industry, the company's liabilities have been mounting over the years.

Sources said Srivastava was in Pune recently to make a presentation before a Pune-based business group, associated with the automobile industry.

According to sources in the Hinduja group, "The Hinduja-owned Indusind Media and Communications has been making inquiries on the viability of the channel, including the television rating points of the programmes being aired."

Srivastava refused to discuss details of the business proposals regarding other companies picking up stakes in ATN. "Such things are not for public consumption," he told Business Standard.

The ATN promoter has not yet responded to a recent offer from STAR TV for joining the Rupert Murdoch-controlled company's proposed DTH network. STAR TV had also offered ATN a transponder on Asisat-1 to start a Hindi-language general entertainment channel which Srivastava had been planning for long.

Differences between Lalit Modi and Srivastava last year had jeopardised a quiet deal through which the Modis were to pick up a 26 per cent stake in ATN. The two parties could not agree on the price. ATN, sources said, had asked for Rs 50 crore, which was not acceptable to Lalit Modi.

Sources said matters came to a head when Modi wrote to some companies interested in picking up equity in ATN, and also to Srivastava, warning them that under the terms of his agreement with Srivastava, ATN could not enter into talks with a third party until the end of a three-month period. The stipulated period ended on June 5, 1996.