Tata Sky in talks with private equity firms for stake sale: report

Mumbai: Tata Sky, the direct-to-home satellite venture of the Tata Group, is in talks with private equity firms, including Providence Equity Partners, Carlyle, Blackstone Group, Goldman Sachs and Apax Partners, to raise $150-$200 million firms, newspaper reports said.

Tata Sky, and News Corp, is looking to sell a 10 per cent stake, the report said, adding that the firm''s chief executive had denied any such immediate plans.

"We have been approached by private equity firms over the last year, but there are no immediate plans to sell a stake," the report quoted Vikram Kaushik as saying.

DTH ventures at present are allowed a maximum 20 per cent individual foreign direct investment. The Tata Group holds 70 per cent in Tata Sky, News Corp owns 20 per cent and Singapore''s Temasek Holdings has 10 per cent.

A DTH operator in India has to have a minimum Indian holding of 51 per cent. Tata Sky is looking at diluting about 10 per cent stake.

The valuation of the company in three months has risen more than two-fold.

Tata Sky''s fund-raising is timed to coincide with the proposed launch of Reliance Communications and Bharti''s DTH operations.

Incorporated in 2004, Tata Sky launched DTH service last year. Tata Sky plans to go public over a period of time.