Mumbai: Call it an epic transaction. Mukesh Ambani has tuned out of Epic TV and sold his personal investment in the Hindi general entertainment channel to Anand Mahindra. Sources say India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, held more than 25% stake in Epic TV.
This is nearly three years after the two billionaires joined forces with media veteran Mahesh Samat to start a Hindi channel dedicated to Indian mythology and history.
M&M’s top boss, Anand Mahindra, is now the sole owner of Epic. This as the third co-founder, Mahesh Samant,also recently sold his personal stake in the channel to Anand Mahindra. Since then, Mahesh Samat has returned to Walt Disney.
A spokesperson for Reliance Industries said Ambani had made the investment in his personal capacity and confirms the stake sale to Anand Mahindra.
Despite the backing of heavyweights like Ambani and Mahindra, Epic, had failed to make waves and was seen as an under performer in the Hindi GEC category.
That has propelled Epic to re-position itself. Aditya Pittie, á director in the board of Epic says, “We have made a strategic decision to rebrand as India’s first Hindi infotainment channel. We will create original content, and not dub to Hindi like others channels in the infotainment category.”
Pittie declined to comment on by when this transition would be completed, or how much Anand Mahindra is willing to invest in the channel.
