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Rupert Murdoch-owned Star Network has offloaded its entire stake of 25.99 per cent (1.69 crore shares) in Balaji Telefilms through a block deal for approximately ₹107.80 crore. The transaction took place on the Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSEI).
The buyers include promoters Ekta Kapoor (19.9 lakh shares) and Shobha Kapoor (8.53 lakh shares). Other buyers include Derive Investments (35 lakh shares), Aadi Financial Services (30 lakh shares), Multiplier Share (20.57 lakh shares), Risi Finstock (8.43 lakh shares), Talma Chemical (8 lakh shares), MK Shipping and Mahavir Inducto (6.65 lakh shares each) and Gulshan Kishorechand Bansal (4.98 lakh shares).
Star had picked up stake in Balaji in August 2004.
Ekta Kapoor and her family members jointly hold 42.93 per cent stake in the company with a total of about 2.8 crore shares to their name.
Star Network sold those shares at an average price of ₹63.6, a significant discount to Tuesday’s closing price of ₹79.40 on the BSE.
Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India, said, “This confirms Star’s exit of a minority stake of 25.99 per cent in Balaji Telefilms. This is in line with our strategy to focus on core businesses where Star has the ability to shape and scale the future growth path of its investments. Our programming and contractual relationships with Balaji are deep and we continue to work on strengthening them to our mutual benefit.”
The recent buying will marginally increase promoters’ holding in the company.
Cost tilts in MSEI’s favour The cost of transaction on MSEI is 50 per cent lower compared to that on the BSE or the NSE, leading Axis Capital to choose the new platform to execute the bulk deal. Besides, there is no concern on liquidity as it is a structured deal between two parties at a fixed price.
The equity segment of the exchange has not attracted any trades in the last few days even as it attracts average daily trades worth ₹1,200-1,300 crore in the currency futures segment.
In June, about 150 companies preferred to list exclusively on the exchange. Going ahead, traders expect the exchange to attract such bulk deals due to the cost benefit, said a broker.
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