Balaji stake sale fails to enthuse participants

DALAL STREET SPIKES

Rupert Murdoch's Star group's flagship channel Star Plus's plan to buy out 25 per cent stake in content provider, Balaji Telefilms, failed to enthuse the market as the stock crashed over 4 per cent in intra day to Rs 87.75. The stock finally closed at Rs 88.35, down 4.2 per cent from its previous close.

Explaining Thursday's fall in the stock price, a head of research of a domestic brokerage said, "The stock had witnessed a decent run up in the past few day ahead of the company's announcement yesterday."

The stock has been on a run since the Rs 68-levels. Sector analysts however are of the view that the deal is a win-win situation for both the companies and will benefit Balaji Telefilms in the long-run.

After the deal, the promoters' holding will fall to around 39 per cent. As on June 30, the promoters held 52.94 per cent stake in Balaji Telefilms. Foreign institutional investors held 23.79 per cent stake while the combined holding of mutual funds and UTI was 1.15 per cent.