| MUMBAI:
The founder-promoters of Alva Brothers Entertainment have bought out Turner International's
stakes in three local joint venture companies - Miditech, Real Global Broadcasting
(RGB) and Match Box Films - as they seek to independently pursue their expansion
plans in television content, broadcasting and movie businesses.
The
Alva brothers, Nikhil and Niret, have repurchased Turner's
29 per cent in Miditech to take full control of the company.
They have also signed a term sheet to buyback Turner's 50
per cent in RGB. Match Box Films, a wholly owned subsidiary
of RGB, will also be entirely owned by Alva Brothers Entertainment.
"The
buyback of shares was important to us as we are now free to pursue our expansion
plans. The negotiations lasted for over six months," Nikhil tells Indiantelevision.com,
while declining to reveal the financial terms.
Turner
International had acquired 29 per cent stake in production
company Miditech for Rs 850 million in a composite deal that
drafted out an equal joint venture broadcasting company, RGB,
for rolling out entertainment channels in Hindi and regional
languages.
The
buyout of shares comes months after Turner snapped up Hindi
general entertainment channel NDTV Imagine from NDTV as late
entrant RGB failed to make a mark in the marketplace.
 | | Nikhil
Alva |
Miditech
is now in advanced negotiations with strategic investors to
offload minority stake. "We are not looking at financial
investors as raising capital is not our main purpose. We want
a strategic investor, either global or Indian, who will spark
our next phase of growth and build scale for us," says
Nikhil.
The
production house, which has a diverse genre and revenue mix, has developed a format
and lined up a global distributor for it. "Big growth can come from developing
IPRs. Our new focus will be in this area," says Nikhil.
Miditech
will also branch out to Kolkata and Hyderabad to tap into regional language content.
It already has bases in Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. "Regional
language programming has given us volume business. We are in all genres of content.
Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) account for about 30 per cent of our
overall content production," says Nikhil. On
the broadcasting front, RGB has chalked out a revival plan and will be exiting
the Hindi GEC space. Real will be relaunched within 60 days and the company intends
to develop a family of premium English channels. "It was a mistake for us
to get into the Hindi GEC space. We will develop RGB into a premium English broadcast
network. We will be looking at roping in investors here," says Nikhil.
Match Box will be involved in movie production but take a slow growth route, adds
Nikhil. | 
