Television Eighteen Group acquires CRISIL MarketWire's assets and staff
14 Nov 2006
The Television Eighteen Group will acquire the assets and staff of CRISIL MarketWire (CMW) from CRISIL Ltd, after the two decided to collaborate on a new business presentation format. The transfer will be effective from January 01, 2007. between CRISIL and TVI8.
CRISIL MarketWire will be rechristened NewsWire18 Pvt Ltd and will be a part of the TV 18 Group.
A communiqué to the exchanges from the Television Eighteen Group says, "This transfer will further enhance CMW's capability to meet customer demand for a good quality, locally-focused real-time news and data product that meets all the needs of financial market participants in India. To achieve this aim, CMW will transform itself from a real-time financial newswire into an integrated information terminal, targeted initially at the domestic market. The TV18 group will take over all the assets and liabilities and staff of CMW from the effective date."
Pankaj Aher, currently chief executive officer, CRISIL MarketWire Ltd, will continue to be the CEO of the business of NewsWirel8 Pvt Ltd and all the staff of CMW across all locations and functions will continue to be associated with the business in the same capacity as currently.
Haresh Chawla, group 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 its 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 news business will have its own real-time market data and news terminal that is sourced from Tenfore Systems Ltd, which caters to 500 clients in 60 countries, that include financial institutions like HSBC, ING and Rabobank and redistribution businesses such as Thomson Financial and GFI.
Raghav Bahl, managing director, Television Eighteen Group, 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."
