Malaysia’s Astro invests US$68m in Indian channels

Under the agreement with NDTV, South Asia Creative Assets, a subsidiary of Astro All Asia Networks Plc, will acquire the 49 per cent stake in NDTV Lifestyle Holdings Private in two tranches, the media company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Separately, Astro has invested in Turmeric Ventures, the company owned by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, which will soon be launching a 24x7 TV channel dedicated to food. The channel is expected to go on-air before the end of the year.

Also investing in Turmeric Ventures is Sandeep Goyal’s Mogae Group, which will own a 20 per cent stake.

Sandeep Goyal, former group CEO of Zee Telefilms, is the founder chairman of Dentsu India which currently has four full service ad agencies. The Mogae Group owns 26 per cent of all Dentsu ventures in India. Mogae also owns a 49 per cent stake in a JV with Dentsu for the Middle East headquartered in Dubai.

Mogae and Astro Malaysia already have a 50:50 JV, Mogae Digital, a leading player in mobile VAS services. Both Mogae and Astro are also co-investors in Diginatives, a software company specialising in educational products.