Providence gets FIPB nod to buy Star's stake in home shopping venture Star CJ

Private equity firm Providence has received the nod from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the nodal body monitoring foreign investment in the country to buy out Star Group's 50 per cent stake in STAR CJ Network India Pvt Ltd, a home shopping joint venture it had formed with South Korean home shopping major CJ O Shopping Co Ltd.

The transaction details are not disclosed but previous reports had said Providence will bring in around Rs 300 crore which would include the money to buy out Star Asia and put fresh investments into the Indian firm.

CJ O Shopping could continue to use Star's brand name for close to a year, post the closing of the deal.

The proposal, which had been pending for more than a year, was approved by FIPB in March this year. Star had been looking to exit the JV as per a strategic decision to focus on its sports and entertainment businesses.

STAR CJ was launched as a six-hour slot on Star Utsav in September 2009. It was later spun off into a 24-hour shopping channel called STAR CJ Alive in 2010 to further increase its outreach to viewers.

Along with the channel, the company runs an online shopping site in the country.

It competes with the likes of HomeShop18, which is in the process of going public in the US.

Started in 1989, Providence Equity Partners LLC is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, communications, education and information investments. The firm manages funds with over $40 billion in commitments and has invested in more than 130 companies globally to date.

Its other India investments include Idea Cellular, Hathway Cable and UFO Moviez.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)