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MUMBAI:
Turner Asia Pacific Ventures (TAVP) has completed the acquisition
of NDTV Imagine Ltd, prompting a name change of the three
channels that was run under the NDTV banner.
The
'NDTV' brand will drop out and the channels will be labeled Imagine TV, Lumiere
Movies and Imagine Showbiz. The
three channels will be under Turner General Entertainment Networks (TGEN), the
holding company that will infuse fresh capital to fund the network's growth.
NDTV
said Wednesday it has received all the regulatory approvals
and the transaction has been concluded on 23 February by transfer
of shares, amounting to 85.68 per cent of NDTV Imagine Ltd,
by NDTV Networks Plc to TAPV.
In
December last year, TAPV had reached an agreement with NDTV to acquire 92 per
cent stake in NDTV Imagine for $117 million, freeing the Prannoy Roy-promoted
broadcasting company from its loss-making verticals.
Turner
had earlier invested into a Hindi general entertainment channel,
Real, with Miditech as a joint venture partner. But the channel
never looked up, settling at the bottom of the Hindi GEC pyramid.
For
NDTV, the slowdown of the economy had forced it to restructure its diversified
businesses. NDTV had sold 69 per cent stake in its lifestyle programming subsidiary,
NDTV Lifestyle, to US-based Scripps Networks Interactive in a deal worth $55 million.
Also
Read: Time
Warner to buy NDTV Imagine for $126.5 million Turner
to acquire 92 per cent in NDTV Imagine | 
