Who owns how much, I&B asks NewsX promoters

The union ministry of information and broadcasting has sought details of the shareholding pattern, list of directors and share purchase agreement, among other information, from Indi Media, the new promoters of NewsX, the English television news channel.

Indi Media had bought NewsX in January from INX News, reportedly for Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million). INX was promoted by ex-Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea and his wife, Indrani Mukerjea, both of whom quit the company with the sale.

NewsX is owned by INX News, in turn now owned by Indi Media. And Indi Media is said to be owned by a clutch of investors led by Vinay Chhajlani, CEO of Webdunia.com India, and promoter of the Hindi daily, Nai Duniya, and by Jehangir S Pocha, former editor of the weekly, Business World.

Currently, the Indi Media Company owns 92 per cent of shares in INX News, while the remaining 8 per cent is with the INX News Employees Trust.