Essel Group’s Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) has received its board's approval to acquire Sarthak Entertainment Pvt Ltd, which operates entertainment channel in Odia language Sarthak TV, in an all-cash deal, for up to Rs 115 crore ($18.19 million), according to a stock market disclosure.
The acquisition shall be from current shareholders of Sarthak Entertainment, subject to requisite approvals, the company said.
"The acquisition of an already profitable, market leading venture is going to be a value accretive investment in line with our philosophy of enhancing shareholder value. Sarthak will add to our bouquet of 33 channels in the domestic market," said Punit Goenka, MD and CEO of ZEEL.
Sarthak TV was launched in 2010. It airs reality and non-fiction shows.
"Being the oldest and market leading network in India, ZEEL would provide the perfect platform for Sarthak to grow in the future. We are sure Sarthak will be a great value-add for ZEEL," said Sitaram Agrawalla, founder and MD of the Sarthak Group and Raj Thourani, director, Sarthak TV.
Mumbai-based ZEE is one of the largest producers and aggregators of Hindi programmes, with an extensive library housing more than 120,000 hours of original television content. Moreover, with rights to more than 3,500 movie titles, ZEE houses the world’s largest Hindi movie library. Through its strong presence worldwide, ZEE reaches over more than 959 million viewers across 169 countries.
The firm had consolidated revenues of Rs 1,339.9 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015, recording a growth of 23 per cent compared with the same quarter last year. Its net profit jumped to Rs 242.3 crore, up 15 per cent from Rs 210 crore at the same time in the corresponding year.
