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DEN Networks to raise $160 million through share sale
Mumbai: That India’s cable TV digitization drive in phases is going to soak up a lot of investment – running into a few billion dollars – is well known. Some of the MSOs have been working to stay ahead of their capital requirement curve. Take national MSO DEN Networks founded and led by former TV executive Sameer Manchanda.
It has a presence in roughly 11 million households in over 150 cities across 13 key states in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Kerala, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The MSO has been at the forefront of digitising cable TV nationally since mid-last year and with the next phase of digitization into smaller towns going on and expected to intensify in the next year, it desperately requires cash.
And it is reaching out to foreign institutional investment to meet that need. It announced on 6 May that it had got board approval to sell equity to raise about $160 million. This was communicated to the stock exchanges on 6 May.
Part of that will be raised through a preferential equity allotment to Goldman Sachs’ Singapore registered affiliates Broad Street Investments and MBD Bridge Street 2013 Investments for a total amount of $110 million at a issue price of 217.50 per share (face value: Rs 10).
The allotment is of course subject to shareholder and other regulatory approvals.
In addition to this, it got the board’s go-ahead for a qualified institutional placement plan to qualified institutional buyers for raising another $50 million at a price of Rs 217.23 per share.
DEN had got board approval in end March to divest 26 per cent of its paid up share capital.
An April end extra ordinary general meeting saw it getting shareholder approval for increasing its FII limit. Earlier this year, it had doubled its borrowing powers from Rs 1000 crore.
The company’s share rose 2.14 per cent at its closing price of Rs 226.75 on the BSE on 6 May.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
