Rajeev Chandrasekhars Jupiter Capital is eying a stake in INX News Ltd, which runs the news channel NewsX, reports Mint quoting sources. This had first been reported at PressTalk a few days ago, according to which Chandrasekhar was offered the (Peter and Indrani) Mukerjea stake in News X, but he declined to buy in at around Rs. 200 crores. Peter Mukerjea has denied to Mint, that he had any formal discussions with Chandrasekhar. INX was looking to raise $150 million in funding, which was expected to be closed by December.
The Mukerjeas own 50 percent in INX, while the balance in held by Temasek Holdings, New Silk Route, New Vernon Private Equity Fund, Kotak Mahindra Capital and Srei. Business Standard reported yesterday that the Bhaskar Group was in talks for acquiring a stake in INX. That report has since been pulled, but you can download the PDF of the cached version: here.
Chandrasekhar recently sold a significant stake in Asianet communications to News Corps STAR TV. He had picked up 51% stake in Asianet Communications in 2006 for an estimated Rs. 150 crores. It was reported recently that he was looking to acquire up stake in an English news channel, and was in talks with one in Delhi, and another in Mumbai. NewsX is one, not unexpectedly.
Update: Exchange4media reports of a patch-up between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi and his nephews, the Maran brothers - which means that the Karunanidhi backed channel Kalaignar TV and Maran’s Sun TV will provide stiff competition to the STAR Jupiter/AsiaNet combine.
