Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, May 18, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, May 18, 2002 |
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Corporate
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Announcements Markets - IPOs B4U puts off IPO plans Our Bureau
KOLKATA, May 17 THE promoters of B4U Television Network have further deferred their plans for an initial public offering (IPO) till the end of this year. They may rope in fresh partners if the situation forces them to defer the IPO plans even further. The company was initially scheduled to go public in the last quarter of 2001 but the event was pushed back because of the poor state of the stock market and weak public sentiment after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. It was then decided that the IPO would be floated between July and September this year. Mr Rajnish Lall, Chief Marketing Officer of B4U Television Network (India) Pvt Ltd, said that probably by the end of the year the company would come out with its IPO. "We are seriously considering it but also hoping that the overall situation remains conducive for it'', Mr Lall told Business Line. The size of the IPO is to be around Rs 100 crore and a premium is likely to be charged. A consultant and a merchant banker have already been appointed but he declined to disclose their names. "The modalities of the IPO are currently being worked out'', he said. Mr Lall felt that there is a second option before the company if it fails to float the IPO, and that is roping in fresh partners. "The point is that we need fresh funds. We have already sustained on our own for the last two years but now we need some financial support to improve our cash flow. Something will be worked out by the end of this calendar year'', he said. B4U Television Networks owns two channels, namely B4U Music and B4U Movies. This company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mauritius-based company, B4U International Holdings. It is owned equally by the steel magnate, Mr Lakshmi N Mittal, Mr Gokul Binani of Binani Steel and Mr Kishore Lulla, owner of Eros International, which is the largest film exporter from India. Mr Lall did not disclose the earnings or the profitability of the company but said that B4U is the only channel to register operating profits within two years of activity. Of the two channels, B4U Movies will become a pay channel within the next two months. B4U Music will continue to operate as a free-to-air channel. Incidentally, both these channels had gone digital from the beginning. B4U Music and Coca-Cola have jointly begun a 10-city tour of musical bonanza with Indian pop stars. Cities like Nagpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Amristar and Ludhiana will be covered in the first leg of the tour.
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