Times group to acquire 6 per cent stake in SaharaOne

Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL) has proposed to buy a 6 per cent stake in SaharaOne Media and Entertainment Ltd.

SaharaOne has subscribed 11,00,000 new equity shares at a price of Rs 344 per share, taking the total valuation of the company to Rs 629 crore. This aggregates the deal at a worth of Rs 37.84 crore.

The deal is subject to all mandatory approvals from the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the company’s shareholders. Meanwhile, the company has informed the BSE and also called for an EGM to get the approval of the shareholders.

Shantonu Aditya, CEO, SaharaOne Media and Entertainment Ltd, feels that this acquisition is the coming together of two prominent media houses of the country. He says the partnership will help SaharaOne in the long run.

Aditya adds, “The SaharaOne team has been doing really well in terms of visibility and brand revamping and in getting audience and advertisers. This is evident from the fact that the group’s newly launched channel, Filmy, got a record number of advertisers on the day of its launch.”

In the nine months ending December 31, 2005, SaharaOne Media and Entertainment Ltd has made a net profit of Rs 7 crore on a turnover of Rs 155 crore, as compared to a net profit of Rs 6.50 crore on a turnover of Rs 215 crore in the year ended March 31, 2005.

For the record, SaharaOne Media and Entertainment Ltd recently got into an ad sales pact with the religious channel, Aastha.

Aditya claims, “This dynamic partnership will see new programming on SaharaOne”, but he declines to divulge further details.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!