Peter Chernin's firm starts India innings with 49% stake in Endemol India

MUMBAI: Armed with $200 million capital infusion from Providence-led group of investors, Peter Chernin has made his maiden investments in India.

The Chernin Group (TCG)?s Asian media investment arm CA Media has started its innings in India with the acquisition of stakes in production house Endemol India and a music, live events and youth media company.

CA Media has picked up 49 per cent stake in Endemol India, a company where its chief executive officer Rajesh Kamat worked as India head. Incidentally, this is CA Media?s largest investment in Asia, though no financial details are revealed.

CA Media will help Endemol India grow as a leading producer of television, film and digital content. Endemol will seek to have a strong presence in the Indian film sector while boosting its presence on the television front.

?Endemol is a stable and mature business and is poised to leverage the growth explosion in the Indian content space. Our alliance will ensure that Endemol will achieve growth across screens, demographics and genres,? said Kamat.

Endemol India MD Deepak Dhar will lead the production house as CEO. Said Dhar: ?In CA Media we see a great strategic partner, which will help us in achieving inorganic growth. Our alliance with them will provide us with the expertise, relationships and resources for us to become a major player in Indian film and regional television, whilst further building our leading position in the entertainment space. We?re all extremely excited about this development and look forward to sharing further details of our plans in due course.?

Endemol India was set up in 2006 and has produced hit shows like Fear Factor, Big Boss and Deal or No Deal.

Dhar said that the company will soon restructure to focus on films, events and live events.

CA Media has also picked up an undisclosed minority stake in Only Much Louder (OML). This investment was done along with Zodius, an investor and operator of digital media, commerce and services.
 
CA Media is looking at OML Entertainment as developing into a youth power activator. Founded in 2002, it currently operates under a large-format music festivals division, a full-fledged production house, a digital wing and an artist management and bookings enterprise.

?OML operates in a category that?s nascent right now, but holds immense potential in time to come. With about 65 per cent of India?s population under 35 years, we are extremely bullish about the value that OML can unlock in this segment,? Kamat said.

Added OML Entertainment founder and CEO Vijay Nair, ?This investment marks a new phase in the evolution of OML where we will be focussing not only on live on-ground properties, but actively looking at amplifying them through television and digital media. CA Media and Zodius are the right partners to guide us and work with us on strategically scaling up OML and build it to its true potential.?

CA Media is eyeing further acquisitions in India. Kamat said that the company will be acquiring stake in media, entertainment, and technology sectors. It will also be investing directly in start-ups to create synergies in the businesses.

The company will initially focus on India, China and Indonesia in Asia. Its plan is to team up with local entrepreneurs, strategic partners, and financing sources to launch new enterprises, enhance the growth of businesses in their formative stages and selectively pursue later-stage transactions.

CA Media was formed in November 2010 by former News Corp president and COO Chernin and former Star head Paul Aiello. Later in April 2011, the company appointed former Colors CEO and Viacom18 COO Kamat as India CEO.

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