Hollywood's leading studio MGM is a front-runner in picking up to 49 per cent equity stake in the financially beleaguered Television India Ltd (TVIL) through TV Mauritius which manages the affairs of Home TV.
The others in the fray are, reportedly, a major NRI group with media and industrial interest in India and a US-based entertainment conglomerate.
One of the main promoters of Home TV, The Hindustan Times, which holds 30 per cent stake in the joint venture, according to business plan, may dilute its stake by about 10 per cent to skirt the proposed cross-media restrictions of 20 per cent as suggested in the broadcast bill.
Informed cable & satellite TV industry sources admitted yesterday that Home TV will see some major restructuring in the next few months.
"A new business plan for which Mumbai-based Nimbus Communications had been hired has been liked by the existing shareholders of Home TV and some details are being ironed out," the sources said.
In June, Pearson Plc's Catherine Mackay, a whole time director of Home TV, had said in a written statement, "We are seeking new management but nothing has been agreed upon yet."
According to the C&S industry sources, "MGM, with its vast libraries of movies and TV dramas and serials, is the front-runner in picking up substantial stakes in Home TV and the quantum will depend on the regulatory environment."
UK-based Pearson Plc, and Carlton Communications, each holding 15 per cent equity stake in TV Mauritius at present, are also likely to pull out of the venture or dilute their stakes as per the broadcast bill which the UF government has promised to get enacted into a law in the winter session.
"At a later stage another Indian partner will be brought in to keep the foreign holdings down to permissible limit," the sources said.
