NDTV Imagine, the entertainment wing of Prannoy Roy-promoted NDTV Network, is close to forming a 50:50 joint venture with Manmohan Shetty - the former promoter of Adlabs - to enter film production.
A high-profile team from MTN is also expected to meet Reliance Industries Ltd next week to take stock of the situation. RCom had informed the bourses on May 26 that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with MTN for 45 days soon after the South African giant aborted its talks with the Sunil Mittal-controlled Bharti group. The deadline will end on July 8.
Flush with cash from his wireless telephony company's sale, industrialist B K Modi is negotiating to acquire 39 per cent stake in Indian television company, Multi Screen Media, earlier known as Sony Entertainment Television. Modi, who was earlier eyeing the 32 per cent stake held by Indian shareholders, is now looking at acquiring an additional 7 per cent held by trusts. He is also planning to re-brand the television channel as Sony Spice TV.
Electronics and white goods manufacturers such as Videocon, Spice, Usha and Mirc Electronics have begun engaging the services of Independent design houses to take on the likes of global giants including Nokia, Sony Ericsson and LG in the mobile handset space. An IDH conducts research and development and designs handsets to enable Indian telcos launch their own mobile handset brands. It takes an upfront one-time fee for the purpose.
Telecom to Telekom Malaysia in an attempt to complete the merger, sources involved in the negotiations said, declining to be identified. The group has hired Enam Financial as adviser to the transaction. Investment banking sources said the lawyers from both the parties are now busy structuring the deal so that the acquisition meets all the regulatory norms of the country and the Birlas retain control over Idea Cellular.
A move by Swedish telecom major Ericsson, the main implementation partner for Bharat Sanchar Nigam's (BSNL) disaster recovery (DR) program, to replace Sun Microsystems and EMC Corporation storage solutions with Hewlett-Packard (HP) products has kicked up a controversy.
Idea Cellular, the Aditya Birla group firm that is on the verge of taking over Spice Communications by buying out B K Modi's 41 per cent stake, is sounding out its bankers to raise funds to upgrade in the struggling telecom operator's network and technology.
Sunil Mittal is seeking subsidies from the Indian government to revive the dying fixed-line phones in the country. The chairman of Bharti Airtel, the leading private sector GSM service provider, has sought the removal of licence fee and service tax that are burdening the sector.
UAE-based telecommunication services provider Emirates Telecommunications Corporation has pulled out of negotiations to acquire a stake in Indian wireless telephony service provider Spice Communications, citing high valuation. Separately, the promoters were expecting a deal to be signed in the next couple of days.
A Trojan is a programme that appears to be desirable (like a free downloadable game or screen saver), but contains viruses or worms (self-replicating viruses) that can create havoc with the PC and the network.
A team of Telekom Malaysia officials will meet US-based billionaire B K Modi and officials of Idea Cellular in Mumbai on Friday, a top official at Spice Communications said. Another option is to permit Telekom Malaysia raise its stake in Spice Communications to 74 per cent. Even though, Idea Cellular will have no role to play in this deal, the Modi family will sell around 14 per cent stake and retain a 26 per cent stake.
Anil Ambani has won Lebanon-based M1 Chief Executive Officer Azmi Mikati's approval for a possible merger of Reliance Communications and South Africa's MTN Group following a meeting between the two.
Users of entry-level handsets will soon be able to avail of push-mail services, with the Rajesh Jain-promoted Netcore Solutions close to launching the service in India.
Indian firms, including Tata Steel, in the past have formed SPVs to acquire foreign companies to protect local operations and also to avoid legal hindrances. The SPV may be registered in a tax-haven country, like Mauritius or Bahamas, the sources said. The move to float an SPV will help Bharti Airtel to continue being listed on Indian stock exchanges, while MTN's promoters will be given a stake in the SPV.
Indian telecom companies are scouting for acquisitions worldwide as part of an ambitious attempt to establish a global footprint. Moreover, the growth momentum needs to be maintained amid the falling average revenue per user (ARPUs) and expected saturation in the domestic subscriber base.
This will pave the way for Kapil Puri to expand Spanco Telesystems, the business process outsourcing and telecommunication services company that he set up after partly exiting Sparsh. Puri is slated to receive around Rs 35 crore (Rs 350 million) from the sale of his stake, which will take place at around Rs 200 per share. This includes a premium as against the existing ruling price of Rs 150 per share.
Despite the lack of policy and clear allotment of spectrum, the domestic telecom industry is all set to usher in 3G services with service and equipment providers readying infrastructure.
While the M1 Group, which holds 9.8 per cent in MTN, today backed Bharti's bid, Singapore Telecommunications said it has no objection to the acquisition.
At a 20 per cent premium, the South African company is valued at $45-47 billion. The Indian GSM provider is looking to acquire a 51 per cent stake in MTN.
Commercials aired during the original show time will also be re-run without charging advertisers additional fee, said sources. In other words, an advertiser will get three times more air time on Star Plus for the same amount it had paid originally.
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