Following Reliance Industries' acquisition of Network18, Homeshop18 CEO Sundeep Malhotra, last Friday, addressed a town hall meeting in his Noida office, to allay fears that employees might have about its $75M IPO and the future of its management team. Network18 owns 54.5% in Homeshop18, and has invested $53.8 million in the business. Malhotra told employees not to worry, and that it would be business as usual at Homeshop18. Responding to an employee's question about whether Homeshop18 IPO would go as planned, Malhotra said that the process of listing the company on the New York Stock Exchange would continue. However, three board members will change, he added. MediaNama sources indicate that employees are still concerned about the future of the company, given the speed at which things have changed at Network18. Many employees have stock options in the firm. According to Homeshop18's filing, in the TV18 HSN Holdings Limited Employee Stock Option Plan 2008 it says, "As of September 30, 2013 options for a total of 2,486,500 ordinary shares were outstanding, of which options for a total of 2,111,500 ordinary shares had vested and options for a total of 2,070,750 ordinary shares had become exercisable. As of September 30, 2013, 209,750 ordinary shares had been issued upon exercise of options granted under the plan." Board Changes Expected at Homeshop18 Speaking briefly with MediaNama, Malhotra said that Homeshop18 has three board members from Network18, and new appointments will be made to the board, but he isn't aware of who that might be. Filings from April 2014…
