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Zee Entertainment Acquires 9X Media, INX Music For Rs 160 Crore

Zee Entertainment’s purchase of 9X Media & INX Music is expected to conclude in two months.

Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Essel Group and Zee Media. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/ <a href="https://twitter.com/subhashchandra/status/777361534175633412">@subhashchandra</a>)
Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Essel Group and Zee Media. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/ @subhashchandra)

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. has acquired 100 percent stake in two media entities, 9X Media Pvt. and INX Music Pvt., in a Rs 160 crore cash deal.

Besides, the company has also bought 26 percent remaining stake in Zee Turner Ltd. for Rs 2.6 lakh, a 74 percent subsidiary of the company. The remaining stake is held by Turner International India Pvt.

Zee Entertainment will acquire 91,453,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each of 9X Media for a consideration of Rs 155.20 crore. The company will also acquire 13,39,556 equity shares of Rs 10 each of INX Music constituting 29.15 percent stake for Rs 4.80 crore.

The remaining 70.85 percent in INX Music stake is owned by 9X Media and therefore consequent to the transaction, INX will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zee Entertainment.

"9X channels enjoy leading market shares in their respective segments and will benefit immensely from our network's strength to achieve higher growth potential and cost synergies," Zee Entertainment Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka said. The deal is expected to conclude in two months.

9X Media operates five music channels - 9XM (Hindi), 9X Jalwa (Hindi), 9X Jhakkas (Marathi), 9XO (English) and 9X Bajao (Hindi).

On completion of acquisition, these channels will be added to Zee Entertainment's current portfolio of 33 channels. 9X Media's popular Bollywood news portal SpotboyE will also be part of this transaction.

Zee Entertainment recently sold its sports channel Ten Sports to Sony Pictures Networks for $385 million in an all-cash deal.