Mumbai: The TV18 board has approved a Rs 250 crore expansion plan and will also raise up to Rs 300 crore through equity instruments. CEO of TV18 Haresh Chawla says that the company is focussed on expanding and leveraging its franchise both on TV and net and is also looking for opportunities in the mobile space.
Excerpts from an exclusive interview with CEO of TV18 Haresh Chawla.
What are your plans for raising this Rs 250 crore?
We have a fair bit of success with all our four channels. We have now told the market that we are focused on the Internet space as well. So, essentially we are focused on expanding and leveraging our franchise both on TV and the net and are also looking for opportunities in the mobile space.
We are talking about unleashing a set of new projects with globally reputed partners over a period of time.
The blue print for this entire expansion plan is ready. We have taken permission from our shareholders to invest in these and also to raise equity, if that is required at some stage for these acquisitions or initiatives.
These initiatives are in the space of television, where we already have our franchises. We expect to roll out more products in this space.
As regards the Internet space, there will be some organic and some inorganic opportunities that we will look at. Just as we have seen TV18 grow, we have also seen globally reputed partners with expertise, network and leverage like CNBC and CNN today coming together with us.
We expect the same thing to happen in the ventures that we are going to talk about. Therefore, a substantial part of the risk in the ventures will be mitigated by the investment and the expertise of these partners.
Are you going to put the new money into ventures you have already announced like Jobstreet or is it entirely for new ventures?
These are for the new ventures.
What is the likelihood of raising capital and what will Rs 300 crore mean to equity dilution?
We are not raising equity for the Rs 250 crore worth expansion project, which we are talking about. But we are taking an enabling provision from our shareholders that tomorrow if an opportunity does arise and we have to move fast then we have these approvals in hand. We expect this approval to last us for the next several years.
What kind of inorganic expansion plans do you have in the pipeline?
We see tremendous value in the Internet transaction space. We think over a period of next 3-4 years, this space should become extremely valuable. It is also a space, where we already have some leadership brands; and that is the space, which we expect to throw significant opportunities for us.
Internet is an attractive space on its own. Further, it allows leveraging our television audience. Today we have become the largest TV news network. If that audience can be leveraged on the Internet, it creates value for us.
How much revenue do you see coming on board after making this investment?
There is no estimate that I can give right now.
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