Network18 Group offloaded 20 per cent stake in Bigtree Entertainment, the holding company of ticketing website BookMyShow.com to venture capital investor Accel Partners for around Rs 100 crore. Network18 held 60 per cent stake in Bigtree.
This deal is in line with its strategy to reduce stake in digital and other non-broadcasting assets to create value for the Network18 shareholders and allow infusion of growth capital in these assets. The stake sale at BookMyShow.com is the second deal in line with this. Earlier during the year, Network18 sold its stake in one of the Capital18 investee companies NetworkPlay to Bertelsmann.
The Network18 group operates a portfolio of digital content and e-commerce assets including moneycontrol.com, ibnlive.com, in.com, firstpost.com and HomeShop18.com.
Network18 also holds a minority stake in Yatra – one of India’s leading travel booking destinations.
“After a phase of investment in building our digital and other non-broadcasting businesses, we believe that many of these assets have reached an inflection point and can now help in creating value for all our stakeholders. The dilution in one of our premier digital commerce assets – BookMyShow.com is a reflection of our commitment to profitably monetise these assets for the benefit of our shareholders and also facilitate the growth of these businesses to the next level,” said Raghav Bahl, managing director, Network18.
