Star group chairman James Murdoch is understood to have met domestic media barons Aveek Sarkar of the Kolkata-based ABP group and Shobhna Bhartiya of Hindustan Times during his current India visit.

Sources said that Aveek Sarkar could pick up a significant part of the 51 per cent stake that is available for sale in Star's content company, Media Content and Communication Services. But sources said talks were still at a preliminary stage.

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Sarkar, when contacted, said, "I have nothing to say on this issue." Star group executives said that no deal had as yet been finalised. "We are bound by the confidentiality clause. We are hence not in a position to divulge details on the meetings with potential investors," a Star group executive said. Murdoch is also believed to have met DSP Merrill Lynch chairman Hemendra Kothari.

Murdoch is in town to take a final call on the majority stake holder in his group's Indian news venture. He intends to resolve the dispute over the ownership pattern of MCCS.

The current shareholding pattern does not meet the regulatory norms that permit the channel to uplink from India.