Reliance Industries Unit Buys Stake in Media Matric

New Delhi: A unit of Reliance Industries has bought a nearly 5 per cent stake in Mahendra Nahata-promoted Media Matric Worldwide for about Rs 40 crore.

RIL bought the stake via its step down unit Ojasvi Trading. Ojasvi Trading bought 5.25 crore shares in three separate block deals last week to take a 4.63 per cent stake in the company, bulk deal data from the BSE showed.

Media Matric Worldwide till recently was in the business of making animation films, theatrical film distribution and distribution of music albums, TV content etc. It added a new line of business with app nexgTV, offering on-demand content, TV shows and movies. Its unit DigiVive offers Mobile TV services.

The application can run across 2G, EDGE, 3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi networks. It streams over 155 Live TV channels with movies, TV Shows and videos, according to the company website.

The acquisition comes ahead of RIL's telecom arm - Reliance Jio - launching its much talked 4G voice and broadband mobile services. It is being speculated that RJio may offer nexGTV services to 4G customers.

Ojasvi Trading bought 3.25 crore shares at Rs 9.55 apiece on February 18, aggregating for over Rs 31 crore. It bought one crore shares each on February 16 and 17 at Rs 9.72 and Rs 9.13 a share, BSE data showed.

Total consideration for the nearly 5 per cent stake was about Rs 40 crore.

Osjasvi Trading is a unit of Teesta Retail. Teesta Retail is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Investment and Holding Pvt Ltd. Reliance Industries Investment and Holding Pvt Ltd is owned by RIL.

When contacted, a RIL spokesperson said: "Ojasvi Trading (P) Ltd has purchased the shares of Media Matrix for investment purposes."

Asked about speculation that Reliance Industries may further hike stake in Media Matrix via open market, the spokesperson said, "There is no plan to hike the stake."