Media Matrix Worldwide Ltd has agreed to sell wholly owned call centre services unit DigiCall Teleservices Pvt. Ltd to Karvy Data Management Services Ltd for Rs 30 crore ($4.71 million).
The deal will be completed within three months, Media Matrix said in a stock-exchange filing on Wednesday. It didn’t specify any reason for selling DigiCall.
DigiCall recorded total income of Rs 109.16 crore for 2016-17. This is 40.38% of its parent’s total revenue. DigiCall’s net worth, at Rs 32.28 crore, was 109% of Media Matrix’s total net worth.
Karvy Data is the business and knowledge process services arm of financial services provider Karvy Stock Broking Pvt. Ltd.
Mumbai-based Media Matrix’s controlling shareholder is Mahendra Nahata, who is also the promoter and managing director of optical fibre maker Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd.
Nahata is better known for selling Infotel Broadband Services Pvt. Ltd to billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd for Rs 4,800 crore after it emerged as the only company to win nationwide licences for fourth-generation telecom services in 2010.
After the acquisition, Ambani renamed Infotel as Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. Reliance Jio launched its 4G services in September last year. Nahata serves as a director at Reliance Jio.
In February last year, Reliance Industries—through step-down subsidiary Ojasvi Trading—bought a stake of about 5% in Media Matrix for about Rs 40 crore.
Media Matrix also owns DigiVive Services Pvt. Ltd, which runs video streaming app nexGTv, and nexG Devices Pvt. Ltd, a multi-brand telecom device distribution company.
In March 2012, Media Matrix had announced an investment of Rs 1 lakh in two subsidiaries—DigiCall Holdings Pvt Ltd and nexG Devices Pvt. Ltd. This was part of a larger plan of investing Rs 100 crore in “next-generation businesses, including content and media business, call centres, handset distribution and e-commerceâ€, it had said at the time.
