Report: PE Players Looking To Exit Nimbus
By Nikhil Pahwa - Tue 06 Nov 2007 03:53 AM PST
Investors in Nimbus Communications, including private equity players like 3i and some of its promoters are planning to exit the company, reports Economic Times. Nimbus Chairman Harish Thawani has told ET that he isn’t aware of any move to exit. The report claims the Nimbus board will be considering proposals from a UK based Media major for a majority stake, and from Ashmore and a Singapore based media investment company for a minority stake. Nimbus is valued at between $700-800 million, and is looking to raise $100 million by selling a 15 percent stake.
Nimbus owns the global rights for BCCI-owned cricket in India till 2010, which it had bought for a whopping $612 million. They had also recently bagged Internet and Mobile rights for the English Premier League for 80 countries. Nimbus had also streamed the India-Australia series online, and had also planned to launch a DVD rental services, though little has been heard of it since the initial story. However, weak distribution and the government forcing them to share match feed with public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has hit revenues.
