MUMBAI: The Prannoy Roy led New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) has signed preliminary deals with certain potential investors for its e-commerce ventures in the fields of food, auto, and gadgets.
In the auto sector, portals like CarDekho.com, CarWale.com, CabKhabri.com and Gaadi.com amongst others operate in the Indian market. In the food sector too, portals for pre-cooked and uncooked food like travelkhana.com,merafoodchoice.com, Getlunchin.com and biryani360.com have mushroomed recently. On the other hand, portals specifically selling gadgets are far and few.
An established player in the news content business, NDTV has ample online content around these segments in NDTV Gadgets (gadgets.ndtv.com), NDTV Food (food.ndtv.com) and NDTV Auto (auto.ndtv.com). NDTV’s e-commerce ventures in these specific areas will only stand to benefit from the backing it will receive from the network.
While the company has signed term sheets with potential investors in the food, auto and gadgets sectors, along with its subsidiary company NDTV Convergence, it did not divulge names of the companies that the deals have been signed with.
It may be recalled that in March this year, NDTV's board had given in principle approval for setting up of online ventures including digital transactions.
In a filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange, NDTV said, “The term sheets are non-binding and are subject to the parties agreeing upon and executing the definitive agreements, which will include detailed terms and conditions in relation to the proposed transactions.”
The company said that the proposed transactions would be subject to various conditions precedent to be specified in the definitive agreements, including due diligence, receipt of requisite corporate authorizations, approvals and regulatory approvals.
On the e-commerce front, NDTV through its subsidiary NDTV Ethnic Retail already operates Indianroots, which sells ethnic wear from various Indian designers. The venture recently also raised $5 million in funding from the Mumbai-based KJS Group.
