TV18 Group to take over assets

Mumbai, Nov 14 (UNI) CRISIL Ltd today announced its decision to transfer the assets and staff of CRISIL MarketWire (CMW) to the TV18 group effective from January 1st next year.

In effect, the CMW business will be re-christened NewsWire 18 pvt.

Limited and will be a group company of the TV 18 group, said a CRISIL press release here.

Accordingly, the TV18 group will take over all the assets and staff of CMW from the effective date. Mr Pankaj Aher, the current Chief Executive Officer of CRISIL MarketWire will take over as CEO of NewsWire 18 Pvt Ltd and the entire team with him at CMW will continue in the same capacity as they currently are, at NewsWire 18 pvt ltd.

Commenting on the development Mr R Ravimohan, CEO&Managing Director of CRISIL Ltd said ''This transaction will allow the CMW team to be housed in a large, mainstream, and fast-growing media company. The technology, reach, and content of TV18, and the CMW content and product will be a very good combination that will offer value to customers.'' Mr Haresh Chawla, CEO, Television Eighteen India Ltd said, ''We are very pleased to have the CMW business on board and are committed to help it grow to it's rightful potential. This transaction and the news and data platform complements our leadership brands in the financial news and information space and will help us extend our dominance to the institutional segment and serve it better.

The new business will have its own real-time market data and news terminal that is sourced from Tenfore Systems Ltd Founded in 1989, Tenfore has direct end users in more than 60 countries, and boasts over 500 corporate clients including HSBC, ING and Rabobank and 45 wholesale/redistribution clients including Thomson Financial and GFI. Tenfore is head-quartered in the UK, with offices in Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland.'' Mr Raghav Bahl, Managing Director, Television Eighteen India said, ''The strategic fit that the newswire business will provide to our existing business will create tremendous shareholder value. This acquisition marks an important milestone in our journey towards becoming a more integrated news company.'' UNI SN WD SKB1830