NEW DELHI: The Government has approved the proposal by the Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte Ltd, Singapore, for increasing its shareholding on fully diluted basis to 100 per cent of UTV Software Communications.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the proposal following the recommendation of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in its meeting on 15 November.

Disney, which holds 50.44 per cent in UTV, will infuse around Rs 20.13 billion for acquiring the remaining stake in the Indian media conglomerate.

UTV Software had announced on 26 July that Walt Disney had offered to buy out stakes held by public shareholders and other promoters of the company.

It had been announced that subsequent to the buyout of the public shareholders, the company will be delisted from both the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. "The delisting proposal entails an offer to acquire all outstanding equity shares held by public shareholders in the company," UTV said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Upon the completion of the transactions, Rohinton Screwvala shall cease to be an employee of the company and instead be employed by The Walt Disney Company India as its managing director.

UTV operates in five verticals - broadcasting, games, motion pictures, digital content and television content.

MUMBAI: Singapore pay TV platform StarHub has acquired the broadcast rights to the soccer tourney Uefa Euro 2012.

UEFA Euro 2012 will be jointly hosted by Poland and Ukraine. It will kick off with an opening ceremony at National Stadium, Warsaw, Poland on 8 June 2012 (Singapore time). The final showdown will be played in the Olympic Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine on 2 July 2012.

StarHub VP of home solutions and content Iris Wee said, "We are thrilled to be the official broadcaster of Uefa Euro 2012 in Singapore. We are looking forward to bringing nonstop ?live? European Football Championship action closer to local fans, and making the Uefa Euro 2012 experience an exciting and immersive one for our customers."

The Uefa Euro 2012 Final Draw, taking place in Kyiv, Ukraine, will be telecast ?live? on StarHub TV?s Football Channel (Channel 222) at 1 am on 3 December 2011. The draw will divide the 16 finalists into four groups, determining which teams will play one another in Group Stage 1 of the tournament.

MUMBAI: The Asia Television Forum (ATF) which takes place in Singapore from 7-9 December 2011 has announced that Dick de Rijk will deliver a keynote.

He created formats like ‘Deal or No Deal‘. In collaboration with MIPFormats, the keynote session by Rijk will focus on the creative process of developing and producing original reality formats that appeal to a variety of viewers in as many different cultures. The formats industry today holds great commercial potential but to harness commercial success, producers and broadcasters alike must also be able to anticipate the strategic potential of multi-territorial developments of a hit show.

Using his latest game show format, "You Deserve It", as an example, Rijk will analyse the makings of a hit reality show - packaging, game play and promotion. ‘You Deserve It‘ is a new studio-based family game show with a reality twist and was recently bought by ABC in the US.

He will dwell on the factors needed to for a reality television show to be a hit. ATF project manager Yeow Hui Leng said, "The ATF is the most important content market in the region, where we present an impressive lineup of international content providers, Asian production companies and TV networks. We want everyone to gain a new perspective on today‘s market and increase their value because of our lectures, which are given by the industry‘s most important players."

In addition ATF in partnership with uniFrance will bring the Soci?t? G?n?rale Private Banking 1st Rendezvous With French Cinema. The film ‘The Artist‘ will be screened. Carole Bouquet will be leading a delegation of actors and directors to this Red Carpet Event. It will serve as a networking opportunity.

There will also be a Spotlight on Malaysia. ATF will present a four-panel discussion featuring executives who together, will open the window into this Asian market.

Also in order to gain first-hand insight into China, the world‘s largest TV market by audience, how its TV industry works, content buying and production as well as generating international collaborations, ATF and CMM-I will bring together two panels to share case studies in cooperation and offer new thoughts on upcoming trends.

One panel ‘Co-producing with China‘, will feature senior producers from the drama, animation and documentary sectors as they introduce recent co-production projects and take part in a discussion on what worked and what did not. The second panel, ‘What do Chinese Buyers Want‘, will see Chinese media executives presenting the content popular with local audiences and international buying trends by Chinese companies across TV and new media platforms. Both panels will be moderated by CMM-I research director, Kristian Kender.

Another highlight of ATF will be the Asian Animation Showcase. In line with the rising animation industry in Asia, ATF 2011 will showcase the latest and most talented animation content from the various Asian countries. A panel discussion led by representatives of ATF‘s Asian animation delegations will offer country-specific insights, future market trends and what they are look for in terms of content import and potential co-productions.

This industry session will also offer extensive business opportunities between Asia animation companies and a wide range of global buyers as well as create dialogues that will spur further cooperation and partnerships, both regionally and globally.

MUMBAI: In a case of turnarounds, owners of Manchester United have delayed their plans to sell stock in Singapore as the market is very volatile.

Though the Glazers aren?t in hurry to proceed immediately, it is understood that the Florida-based owners are prepared to wait until market conditions are more favourable and postpone their preferred mid-October listing if required.

Yesterday, Singapore?s stock exchange had approved the football club?s application to raise about $1 billion in an initial public offering. After the approval, the Glazers were given the go ahead to press ahead with their partial flotation of the club selling up to 30 per cent of their stake holding.

Accordingly, the Glazers had informed the Singapore Stock Exchange that some of the proceeds of the flotation would go towards reducing United?s debt that stands at ?308.3 million net.