| MUMBAI:
: NDTV Ltd. is drawing up a restructuring plan that would separate its news and
entertainment businesses. The
board has given the nod to separate these business units which would help create
individually listed entities in India.
The reorganisation will stimulate
investors in the businesses based on different investment strategies and risk
perception, NDTV said. The
news and entertainment businesses are subject to different foreign shareholding
caps, under Indian regulations. "Post reorganisation, the sectoral cap applicable
to news-plus is not expected to apply to the entertainment-plus businesses,"
NDTV said.
While news has a foreign holding cap of 26 per cent, entertainment
channels face no such restriction. NDTV
had set up a committee of the board to evaluate the need and options for reorganisation
of the company with the "objective of unlocking shareholder value and to
promote growth of various businesses of the company." Approving
the reorganisation, the board has authorised the committee to appoint consultants,
tax and regulatory advisors and valuers as may be necessary for evaluating various
options with a view to working out a detailed plan.
"We feel that
we can unlock shareholder value by separating the news and entertainment businesses,"
said NDTV Group CEO Narayan Rao.
NDTV had set up a wholly owned subsidiary,
NDTV Networks, to seize opportunities in areas 'beyond news' - entertainment,
lifestyle, media technology and outsourcing.
NBC Universal has taken a
26 per cent share in NDTV Networks, the holding company for NDTV's entertainment
(including NDTV Imagine) and lifestyle channels, digital media and other interests,
including media products and services. | 
