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MUMBAI:
Home Box Office Inc (HBO), the premium cable movie channel
subsidiary of Time Warner, has bought out NBC Universal and
Sony Pictures Entertainment from its Asian joint-venture company,
HBO Asia.
Under
the new equity structure, HBO Asia is majority owned by HBO
Inc with Paramount holding the remaining stake.
HBO
Asia was previously an equal four-way partnership between
HBO Inc, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Assuming
that it was a straight buyout by HBO of NBC and Sony Pictures,
the new equity structure would be 75 per cent held by HBO,
with Paramount retaining its current 25 per cent holding.
There was however, no confirmation of this from company officials
at the time of filing this report.
Building
on its strong position in the US, HBO is expanding its business
internationally. The majority stake in HBO Asia is a further
testament to this expansion, a company release states. HBO’s
strong performance and brand recognition in Asia was the driving
force behind the decision, the release adds.
Going
forward, whether this development will have any impact on the existing output
deals from major Hollywood studios including Sony Pictures Entertainment (Columbia/TriStar),
NBC Universal, and Warner Bros are unclear at the moment. HBO is currently available
in 22 countries across Asia.
HBO
Asia CEO Jonathan Spink, has been quoted in a Variety report
as saying that HBO will now look to expand its service options
and geographically within the region.
Launched
in September 2000, HBO is a 24-hour English language movie channel reaching viewers
across South Asia (India, Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh). In South Asia HBO
has licensing deals with Paramount, Columbia/TriStar, NBC Universal and Warner
Bros. | 
