MUMBAI: Raghav Bahl, promoter of Television Eighteen India Ltd, is giving up over 10 per cent of his stake in Network 18, the new holding company. Also, the plan for an initial public offering (IPO) of Network 18 has been dropped.

Bahl will relinquish part of his stake in favour of a Trust, which will own 10.56 per cent in Network 18. With this, Bahl's holding in Network 18 will come down to 51 per cent.

"The Trust will, subject to receipt of all regulatory approvals, make a sale of these shares after Network 18 is listed (after the de-merger), leading to an efficient price discovery. The cash so raised is then intended to be made available to TV18. Accordingly, plans for an initial public offer (IPO) at the Network 18 level have been dropped," an official release said.

The company has further decided that Network 18 will divest 2.07 per cent of its shareholding in TV18 in the open market. This will bring Network 18's holding in TV18 down to 51 per cent. "The cash raised by this sale shall also be made available to TV18," the release said.

Earlier, the company had announced that TV18 will consolidate its various media holdings into two companies and list Network 18.

TV18 has two business news channels in English - CNBCTV18 and Hindi consumer channel - Awaaz. The Group has marked its entry into the general news channel space through Global Broadcast News which has launched CNN-IBN.

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