Is IPL and ICL merging?

The ICL business head Himanshu Mody told media that Zee backed cricket league is far from closing down and it is actually being wooed by the BCCI for making up with the official guardian of Indian cricket.

Rumors have been making rounds for past few weeks. Has the pinch of recession gone too hard for India’s rebel cricket league that it is considering a close down! But at the peak of the rumors, ICL issues a statement to inform the cricket news media that neither the league lacks resources nor has it got any plan for closing down ICL. They are as committed to holding twenty-20 tournaments across the country as before. “There is no question of being bankrupt. We are committed to holding the ICL,” ICL business head Himanshu Mody said in the statement.

The business head added that BCCI, who has created enough trouble for the Indian Cricket League, now wants to walk the path of peace. In a mood to patching up the old row, India’s cricket board offers to make a deal to Subhash Chandra owned league. The deal calls for the dissolving of ICL on the part of Zee group and a gift of Indian Premier League franchise in return. As expected, the deal was not acceptable for the ICL founder. “The BCCI has been offering a peace deal to ICL promoter Subhash Chandra asking him to take up a franchise in return for winding up the league, but this is unacceptable to the Zee boss,” Mody was quoted as saying.Subhash Chandra not only has turned down BCCI’s peace deal, he sent out clear message that he is firm on his grounds on certain issues. And most important among them is striking off the ‘rebel’ tag behind the names of the ICL players. The Twenty-20 league is currently waiting for the decisions of International Cricket Council's executive Board meeting to come out. It is scheduled for April 17-18 in Dubai. The outcome of the meeting will decide the fate of Indian cricket league - whether or not the league would be granted official status. If it fails to produce any satisfactory result, ICL will go for the legal options, Mody makes it clear. “If a resolution does not come through at the next ICC Executive Board meeting, we will pursue legal options. Our stated position is that we will take ICC to court in the UK citing precedents -- Tony Grieg vs. Doug Insole (England) and Kapil Dev and other players vs. BCCI in Indian courts.” Mody says in his statement.
ICL’s releasing of NZ players Shane Bond and Darryl Tuffey and Pakistani players Mohd. Yousuf and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdur Razzak, sparked off rumors that a recession-hit ICL is on the verge of collapse. The business head of the league however made it clear that the release has been granted only on a temporary basis to accommodate with the players’ commitments for their national teams. He says letting players representing their countries in international cricket only add value to their profile and that in turn make them more valuable for the League too.

However, ICL makes it a point to gain back the ICC recognition for the players. The business head also said that the league will remain firm on its demands that the “rebel” tag should be removed from it and both the domestic as well as international cricket bodies should recognize the players’ official status and restore pension and other benefits. A the same time he made it clear that cancellation of last ICL was due to the pull out of Pakistani cricketers in the aftermath of Mumbai attack. “People are spreading canards about the ICL going belly up and that due to this we are releasing players. This is all nonsense. Yes, we cancelled one event due to 26/11 but that doesn't mean the ICL is defunct. We are looking at two tournaments in October-November, a league in 8-9 cities on the round-robin format followed by the World Series," Mody said in an attempt to quash the rumors about ICL closing down.

TV18 To Buy 50% Stake In MTV India For Rs. 200 Crore

The Television Eighteen Group (TV18) is picking 50 percent equity stake for Rs. 200 crore in MTV Networks India (MTVI), a unit of U.S. media company Viacom that markets and distributes of TV channels MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon. The deal is apparently part of the 50:50 joint venture between Viacom and the TV 18 Group announced in May this year.But it wasn’t known at the time of the creation of the joint venture Viacom-18 that TV18 would directly pick up equity in MTVI.

The TV 18 Group is investing through a wholly-owned Mauritius entity BKH Holdings, which will raise funds for the deal. Viacom will receive royalty payments from MTVI equaling 2% of net revenues for use of Viacom brands and is also expected to receive 1% of MTVI’s net revenues as technical assistance and consultancy fees.

(Source: ContentSutra)

DLF to pump Rs 1,250 cr in DT Cinemas

Real estate behemoth DLF is likely to invest about Rs 1,250 crore on expanding its multiplex business, DT Cinema, by adding about 500 screen in the next four to five years.

"Currently, we are at a pre-operative stage with about seven screens. In another four to five years time the target is to have 500 screens across India," DT Cinema CEO Kajal Aijaz said.

By September this year, two DT Cinema complexes in Delhi and one in Chandigarh would be operational, she said, adding that 35 screens are expected to be functional in the next seven months.

On an average, setting up a screen can costs anything between Rs 2 crore to Rs 2.5 crore. Apart from north Indian cities, DT Cinema plans to set up multiplexes in Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa and Kolkata. The size of each multiplex could be between 35,000 sq ft to 90,000 sq ft, she said.

(Source: Economic Times )

R-ADAG may pick up stake in Ultra

Home video major Ultra is in talks with the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) for a strategic equity partnership in the company.

However, he added that the talks were at a nascent stage. Agarwal said that the negotiations with the strategic players were aimed at raising around Rs 100 crore through sale of around 25 per cent equity. If the deal happens, it will value the company at around Rs 500 crore.

There has been a sudden rush of corporate biggies wanting to enter the home video industry after Delhi-based optical storage media maker Moser Baer entered the business last December with DVD and VCD prices at Rs 34 and Rs 28 respectively. Harish Thawani-promoted Nimbus Communications too has announced its plan to join the fray.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the home video market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31 per cent to Rs 2,500 crore by 2011. An additional boost will come from a growing domestic retail sector.

(Source: Business Standard)

Mukesh zooms into Yashraj films for JV

Reliance Industries and Yashraj Films, the makers of hits such as Kabhie Kabhie and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, are in talks for a joint venture to set up multiplexes, run entertainment channels and produce soap operas for television.

People close to the negotiations say that Reliance Retail, an associate of Reliance Industries, will float a new company where Yashraj Films will hold close to 26%. The new company will use the space provided by Reliance Retail’s gigantic malls to set up a chain of multiplexes across the country.

The move ties in well with Reliance Retail’s plans of setting up mega malls in urban centres, replete with an array of entertainment, food courts and other services. Yashraj Films, with domain expertise in entertainment, will be a formidable partner for Reliance. In turn, Yashraj Films will get preferential access to prime real estate, a crucial ingredient of success in the multiplex space.

(Source: ET)

Compact Disc to float subsidiary in UK

Animation outsourcing company Compact Disc India will float a wholly-owned subsidiary, Media One, in the United Kingdom at an investment of $50 million, for handling global motion and animated film projects.

The Chandigarh-based company, which has recently acquired the UK-based mobile gaming company Mobsoft for USD two million, also plans to produce a film called 'Guru of Sex', based on the life of Osho Rajneesh.

(Source: ET)

Yash Raj Films, Blackstone JV likely

Filmmaker Yash Chopra is believed to be engaged in talks with private equity investor Blackstone to form a joint venture for movie exhibition initiative. The movie exhibition business will strengthen Yash Raj Films’ presence in the media and entertainment space.

Chopra is planning to buy single-screen theatres and convert them into multi-screen theatres, depending on their viability. The new business is unlikely to operate under the Yash Raj Films banner. Yash Raj Films, the production house owned by Chopra, has already acquired two properties in Mumbai, Bahar Cinema in Andheri and Capitol Cinema in south Mumbai, according to sources. The production house is also looking at other metros, including Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Formed in 1970, the production house has come a long way from running a studio to distributing movies. It launched the music label called Yash Raj Music some years ago. The company also produces DVDs under the Yash Raj Films Home Entertainment label and started movie distribution last year with the Bollywood film, Krrish, followed by Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.

(Source: Business Standard)

GV Films interested in investing in Sanra

G V Films Ltd has evinced interest in investing in animation firm Sanra, a top company official said on Monday. It plans to pick up 10% stake in Sanra.

Sanra, which had bagged orders for production work of some cartoon films from Hollywood, would decide very soon on the offer, Sanra's CEO Sukumar Subramanian told reporters.

GV had bagged a six million USD order for producing an animation film from the United States, besides 12 million order from a UK company, Venkatramani said adding Sanra's expertise would be used in producing both the films. The company was also exploring the possibilities for a tie up with Universal Studios in the Hollywood for production of animation films, he said.

(Source:ET)