MUMBAI: The promoters of leading Tamil daily Dina Thanthi are buying out Metronation Chennai Television, a joint venture company between New Delhi Television Ltd. and Kasturi and Sons Ltd. (publishers of Hindu newspaper), for a total consideration of Rs 150 million.

NDTV and Kasturi and Sons are selling their respective stakes in the company that operated and managed Chennai?s first and only city-specific English news & current affairs channel, ?NDTV Hindu?.

The purchase is being made by Educational Trustee Company, an outfit owned by the promoters of Dina Thanthi. Metronation Chennai Television will, become a 100 per cent subsidiary of Educational Trustee Company on the completion of the transaction.

The agreement and the transaction are subject to receipt of all necessary approvals.
   
MetroNation Chennai, the JV where NDTV holds 51 per cent and Kasturi and Sons the balance 49 per cent, had launched NDTV Hindu in mid 2009.

The channel was set up with a capital of Rs 102 million. It had suffered a net loss of Rs 179.4 million on an income of Rs 12 million in the last financial year.

In February this year, NDTV was looking to induct strategic investors in the loss-making venture. Later, it decided to put it on the block.

For the quarter ended March 2011, NDTV Ltd had made a provision of Rs 293.8 million for its investments in NDTV Hindu.

The proposed deal also marks NDTV?s exit from its loss-making ventures. In December 2009, the company had exited from the Hindi general entertainment business after selling its 92 per cent stake in NDTV Imagine to Time Warner for $126.5 million.

NDTV also sold 49 per cent stake in its lifestyle business, housed under NDTV Lifestyle Holdings, to Malaysian media group Astro All Asia Networks for $40 million. The channel achieved break-even status in the fourth quarter of FY?11.

Shares of NDTV rose 0.4 per cent to close Friday at Rs 50 on the BSE.