MUMBAI: Sahara One Media and Entertainment, at its board meeting held last Saturday (11 February), has cleared the way for the Times Group to pick up a small take in the company.

With this approval from the board, Sahara One will raise approximately Rs 380 million on 1.1 million equity shares of the approximately 6 per cent stake that it offloads to Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd (BCCL), which is the holding company of the Times Group.

Sahara One has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that on a preferential basis, upto 1.1 million equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 344 per share will be transferred to BCCL. The announcement confirms news broken by Indiantelevision.com last Thursday (9 February).

The board has approved the calling of an extraordinary general body meeting on 8 March to accord the consent of shareholders to issue equity Shares to BCCL on a preferential basis.

Sahara One Media and Entertainment comprises of general entertainment channel Sahara One and a movie channel Filmy, which officially launched on 12 February. The company also has plans to launch a music channel.

It is also pertinent to note that Sahara One Motion Pictures is planning to start its own music and home video labels as a natural extension to Sahara's ambitious movie production business where it plans to invest Rs 3 billion.