Reliance Scotches Speculations That It Plans To Sell Its News Business to Times Group

Billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Industries on Thursday (28 November) scotched speculations that it was in talks with Times Group to sell its news media business, PTI reported.

“Reliance Industries firmly denies (the) story. The story is baseless and false,” a company spokesperson said.

Bloomberg News had earlier reported that Ambani was in negotiations with Bennett Coleman & Co. (generally known as Times group) to sell his news media assets. According to the report, Ambani was considering various options, ranging from an outright exit to a stake sale.

Ambani-owned Network18 reported a group loss of Rs 178 crores in the year ended March, while its net debt stood at Rs 2800 crores.

Network18, acquired by Reliance Industries in 2014, owns and operates 56 local channels spanning news and entertainment. News properties include MoneyControl, News18, CNBCTV18.com, CricketNext, and Firstpost.

Bennett Coleman, popularly known as the Times Group, owns television channels, including Times Now and ET Now. Besides India’s largest selling daily Times of India, it also publishes The Economic Times.