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Eros brings Bollywood and Hollywood together
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By Our Correspondent ©2006 Bollyvista.com |
Eros International plc ("Eros" or "the Company"), the leading Bollywood studio announces an investment deal (up to £2.1million) with Singapore-based, ANYTIME Pty Ltd. ("ANYTIME"), Asia's leading supplier of Video-on-Demand (VOD) Hollywood entertainment and a company whose shareholders include 4 major Hollywood studios and Intel.
Subject to final due diligence and agreement of full terms, Eros will take a minority stake in ANYTIME and a seat on ANYTIME's board.
As part of the deal, it is intended that an Eros-branded Bollywood VOD service showcasing Eros' library of over 1300 titles will be launched in the 14 Asia Pacific countries where the ANYTIME service has a licence to operate.
A major part of the deal - following completion of due diligence and agreement of full terms - will involve the companies launching a fully integrated joint venture to license and distribute Hollywood content for VOD in India, with Eros as the majority shareholder. The joint venture will provide fully programmed and customized premium Hollywood content services to local service providers as well as to consumers over the open internet.
ANYTIME is the leading Video-on-Demand Channel over IPTV, Broadband and Digital Cable Networks in Asia and the Pacific. With four of Hollywood's major studios and Intel as its shareholders, ANYTIME has an extensive library of current and library titles available on demand.
Kishore Lulla, Chairman and Chief Executive of Eros commented:
"ANYTIME's Hollywood digital entertainment services, world-class technical programming and marketing expertise complement Eros' strategic vision for expanding choice for consumers in India. Working with ANYTIME will help us further expand the reach of our extensive Bollywood film library."
Craig Zimbulis, President and CEO of ANYTIME commented:
"ANYTIME is excited about the tremendous value this partnership with Eros International brings to our shareholders and consumers by expanding ANYTIME's Hollywood on demand entertainment to a massive Indian market and taking Eros' premium Bollywood content on VOD to the Asia Pacific region"
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