Viacom Buys 50% Stake in Indian Net

Viacom International Media Networks has acquired a 50% stake in Prism TV Private Limited, owner and operator of several popular regional entertainment channels in India, for about $153 million.

Prism TV channels include ETV Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Oriya and ETV Gujarati, all of which were recently rebranded under the ‘COLORS’ umbrella.

The transaction was completed between Nickelodeon Asia Holdings Pte Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Viacom, and Shinano Retail Private Limited, a company effectively 100% owned by Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited. The parties received clearance from India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board earlier this month.

For the full story go to Multichannel.com.