One more takeover in Media sector........

HDIL buys 51% in SAB media co
Stake To Help Realty Firm Gain 51% Control In Sri Adhikari Brothers’ Group Arm SABML & Technocraft Media
Our Bureau MUMBAI
REAL estate firm Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) on Tuesday said it has acquired 51% stake in Broadcast Initiative (BIL), a Sri Adhikari Brothers group-controlled media firm, for an undisclosed amount. The BIL stake purchase will also give HDIL control over 51% stake each in two subsidiaries of BIL-Sri Adhikari Brothers Media (SABML) and Technocraft Media. BIL is a national Hindi news channel while SABML is operating a regional Marathi channel, Mi Marathi. Technocraft Media (TMPL) is in the process of starting a regional Bhojpuri channel. HDIL will route the stake purchase through its various group companies, a company statement issued here said. “The acquisition of 51% stake in BIL, SABML and TMPL is part of the group’s long term strategy of becoming a significant player in the fast growing media and entertainment space. The deal will prove to be an ideal entry point for the group, because of the vast media experience of Adhikari Brothers,” said HDIL chairman Rakesh Kumar Wadhwan. He added that HDIL has plans to create a bouquet of regional news and entertainment channels and to become a leading media conglomerate by entering into other assets such as film production, distribution and Studio facilities. The equity purchase from existing promoters will be followed by an open offer as per SEBI’s takeover regulations. Adhikari Brothers will retain a balance shareholding which may be up to 24% post completion of transaction, the company statement said. “Our partner ship with HDIL puts us on a new and much stronger platform to harness our capabilities and cope with the increasing competition in the national and regional broadcasting segment,” said Broadcast initiatives MD Makarand Adhikari.

My Comments:
There is one more take over in Media Sector and that is SAB TV .It again proves that Media is going to play a major role in world market .We have seen that ADAG wants to play a major role in Media sector as we saw ADAG taking over Adlabs Ltd , ETC Network Ltd etc and declaring that it wants to makes films that will includes Hollywood stars and will also have a director like Steven Speilberg and the amt put aside by Anil Ambani , ADAG gr is $1 bn…i.e Rs 4500 cr.
But the elder brother also wants the pie in Media.I somewhere read that the EX-MD of Adlabs , Mr.Manmohan Shetty , has joined Ril Media arm and seems Mukesh Ambani is also thinking big here.
According to what I have gathered HDIL management is also very near to Mukesh Ambani gr and seems that this a proxy takeover from Mukesh Ambani as he can’t go directly in Media sector as Anil Ambani is have stake and interest in Media sector.
But seems that this sector is going to become very hot with takeovers and mergers.One should watch out for this sector.