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MUMBAI:
American media giant NBC Universal has set its sights on marking
up its international presence. It has come close to inching
a deal to acquire Sparrowhawk Media for about $350 million.
Owned
by private-equity backers 3i, Providence Equity Partners and
British television executive David Elstein, Sparrowhawk Media
controls the international distribution rights to the Hallmark
Channel as well as a library of almost 600 made-for-TV movies.
These include classics like Moby Dick, Gulliver's Travels
and other video titles-rights previously owned by Crown Media
Holdings.
In
addition to news channel CNBC and entertainment channels Sci
Fi and 13th Street, that are broadcast throughout Europe,
NBC could now own the Hallmark channel outside of the US,
newly launched Movies 24, children's service Kids Co and a
forthcoming UK lifestyle channel for women titled Diva.
The
acquisition aims to help NBC, a subsidiary of US conglomerate
General Electric, to achieve the target set by its chief executive
Jeff Zucker of increasing the proportion of international
revenues to its overall income from 20 to 30 per cent. Sparrowhawk
distributes the Hallmark Channel in 160 countries to almost
53 million subscribers.
If
completed, the deal would enable NBC's biggest foray into
the British market. Earlier this year, the company announced
a significant expansion plan for its global networks division,
detailing a strategy to launch 20 localized channels in 23
markets across Europe, Asia and Latin America.
The
company said that it was also looking to further drive the
distribution of Universal Channel in new markets like Asia
and central and eastern Europe and in Western Europe and Latin
America.
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