The Hindu Business Line : Nimbus not keen to bat with SET

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Hero Honda and Perfetti Van Melle have already committed Rs 300 crore.
The channel is expected to announce two more anchor sponsors, possibly Hutchison Essar and Allianz.

Meera Mohanty

New Delhi April 7 The board of Nimbus Communications has rejected Sony Entertainment Television's (SET) proposal to acquire 26 per cent stake in its cricket channel, Neo Sports.

According to sources, the decision taken on March 23 had been based on the argument that Neo Sports was not in need of any fresh equity investment since the channel was fully funded by Nimbus.

The cricket-only channel, launched in October last year and Neo Sports Plus launched later for non-cricket sports, is also expecting its valuation to rise in the next quarters, by when it hopes to have fully rolled out its distribution and signed on two more anchor sponsors. Hero Honda and Perfetti Van Melle have already committed Rs 300 crore. The channel is expected to announce two more anchor sponsors, possibly Hutchison Essar and Allianz, in a four-year and Rs 325-crore combined deal.

When contacted, SET officials refused to comment. The network, which reportedly paid $250 million (Rs 1,066 crore) for the ICC rights, will have run out of cricket content when the ongoing World Cup ends. The media rights to ICC matches for the next eight years, till 2015, have been acquired by ESPN-Star Sports for a reported $1.1 billion (Rs 4,691 crore). BCCI's rights are held by Nimbus Communications, which is believed to be paying $612 million (Rs 2,610 crore) for four years' rights.

SET is also reported to be planning an IPO that should help the network raise money for better content, expanding portfolio of channels and allowing some of its Indian promoters an exit route. Sony, which boasted of high viewership ratings when its popular serial `Jassi... ' and talent hunt, Indian Idol were on air, has slid to third position. Promos of the new season of Indian Idol are already on air.

The five-channel network (Sony, SET Max, AXN, SAB and Sony Pix) was also reported to be eyeing 50 per cent stake in Ten Sports. The deal was finally clinched by Zee Telefilms for over Rs 250 crore in November last year.

Nimbus also received $125 million investment in convertible debentures from 3i Group, Cisco Systems, and Oman International Fund in January this year.

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