MSM's Rs 5.45 bn FDI proposal to
buyout Indian promoters gets government nod
Insearchindia.com Team
(28 February 2013 9:10 am)
MUMBAI: For the seven
Indian promoters who had joined hands with Sony Pictures to set up Sony
Entertainment Television India (now Multi Screen Media) in 1995, it is party
time. The government has approved Multi Screen Media's (MSM) Rs 5.45 billion
foreign direct investment (FDI) proposal to buy out the stake of its Indian
promoters.
The payment was to be made in stages, with $145 million
coming at the closing of the acquisition by December-end 2012. The balance $126
million would be paid in three equal annual installments starting from the
fiscal year ending 31 March 2014.
Sony Pictures Television (SPT), an indirect wholly-owned
subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment and also the parent company of MSM,
had last year bought out the stake of the Indian shareholders in MSM for an
agreed amount of $271 million.
Sudesh Mani Iyer, Sushil Shergil, Rakesh Agarwal, Jayesh
Parikh, Raman Maroo, BR Sule and film actor Jackie Shroff are the seven Indian
promoters who held almost 32 per cent stake in MSM through Grandway Global
Holdings and Atlas Equifin.
The Foreign
Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) gave its approval to MSM's proposal.
Sony’s stake in MSM is a little over 94 per cent with the
balance being with private equity firm Capital International.
