Viacom has purchased 50% of Prism TV’s equity shares through its Nickelodeon Asia Holdings subsidiary for ₹9.4 billion (US$153 million). Nickelodeon purchased Prism TV’s shares from Shinano Retail, a company owned by Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings.
The Network18 group will hold the remaining 50%.
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Prism TV owns and operates regional entertainment channels in India including ETV Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Oriya and ETV Gujarati, all of which were recently rebranded under the network Colours.
Viacom and the Network18 group already had a joint venture formed in 2007 – Viacom 18, which operates Colours as well as channels including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.
J Sagar Associates (JSA) advised Viacom on the deal. The team comprised partner Akshay Nagpal, senior associate Kaustubh George, and associates Upasana Gupta and Sonali Kapoor.
JSA partners Dhirendra Negi and Amitabh Kumar, along with SP Purwar, head of the telecom practice, and senior associate Gautam Shahi, provided input on aspects of the transaction. JSA chairman and founder Jyoti Sagar advised on strategy.
Shuva Mandal and Roxeanne Anderson of AZB & Partners represented Shinano and Reliance Industries.
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