Astrology  Chat  Cityscape  Classifieds  Entertainment  Health  Matrimonial 
Music  News  Panorama  Search  Shopping  Services  Tours & Travel  Home

TV Today Network, provider of news through its Hindi news channel ‘Aaj Tak’, has announced a price band of Rs 80 to Rs 95 (face value Rs 5 for each share) for its initial public offering (IPO) through the 100 per cent book-building route.

The issue would constitute 25 per cent of the fully diluted post issue paid-up capital of the company. The issue will be open for bidding till December 27, 2003. The shares will be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

A total of 14,500,000 equity shares are being offered which includes a fresh issue of 10,000,000 equity shares by TV Today, and another 4,500,000 equity shares for sale by existing stakeholders. Up to 50 per cent of the issue will be allocated to qualified institutional buyers on a discretionary basis, and 25 per cent each to non-institutional investors and retail investors on a proportionate basis, in accordance with the SEBI guidelines.

The issue is being managed by JM Morgan Stanley Pvt Ltd as the book running lead manager, while Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd and ICICI Securities Limited are the co-book running lead managers.

According to Aroon Purie, chairman & managing director, TV Today Network, “In a short span of less than three years, TV Today Network, through Aaj Tak, has emerged as a leader and a trendsetter. ‘Headlines Today’, our latest offering, is all set to create waves in the English news genre. Our aim is to tap the boom in the media sector, and we plan to use the proceeds from the IPO to capitalise on the growth opportunities in the broadcasting industry.”

TV Today Network plans to use the proceeds for the execution of a major upgradation and expansion plan which includes upgrading its existing news channel infrastructure, creating back-up uplinking infrastructure, acquiring state-of-the-art newsgathering equipment and creating infrastructure to exploit subscription revenues.

Aaj Tak has been maintaining the leadership position in the news genre in the country. Speaking on the performance of TV Today Network, G Krishnan, CEO said, “As the leader in the news channel industry, we have continuously striven for excellence. Our efforts haw been recognised in the industry, and the Indian Television Academy has awarded Aaj Tak the ‘Best News Channel’ award for three consecutive years, 2001,2002 and 2003. We aim to uphold and maintain the same standards of excellence for all the brands in the future.”

For the financial year 2003 and the four-month period ended July 31, 2003, TV Today’s operating revenues were approximately Rs 108.49 crore and Rs. 36.79 crore. EBITDA was approximately Rs 54.36 crore and Rs 17.28 crore and net profit was approximately Rs 25.93 crore and Rs 8.2 crore respectively.