By Dow Jones Business News, March 20, 2013, 02:36:00 AM EDT
By R. Jai Krishna
NEW DELHI--India'sNetwork 18 Media & Investments Ltd. (532798.BY) said Wednesday its unit companies hold less than $
260,000 in bank balances in Cyprus as of Monday, as the media firm sought to allay investor concerns.
The clarification made to the Indian stock exchanges by Network 18, as well as its television company TV18 Broadcast
Ltd. (532800.BY), comes after shares of both firms fell Tuesday on jitters over the two companies' exposure to Cyprus.
Network 18 has business units in the European island country.
On Tuesday, Network 18's shares closed down 4.4% at 31.00 rupees per share, and TV 18 Broadcast ended 7% lower at 27
rupees per unit. The Bombay Sensex ended 1.5% down.
Over the weekend, euro-zone finance ministers had decided to impose a special tax on deposits as part of a deal to
reduce the cost of the island's bailout. The deal marks the first time in the euro-zone crisis that depositors in the
bloc's banks will lose money, a move that has stoked fears of a deposit run--either in Cyprus or at other fragile euro-
zone banks. However, Cyprus's parliament voted Tuesday against the proposed levy, sparking worries that Cyprus could
face a complete collapse of its banks.
Network 18 Media & Investments runs web portal In.com and has partnerships that run India's versions of CNBC, MTV,
Nickelodeon and CNN. It also operates a Hindi entertainment channel and some e-commerce sites.
Separately, TV18 Broadcast said its joint venture Viacom18's film unit--The Indian Film Company--doesn't hold any bank
balances in Cyprus.
"TV18 Broadcast Ltd. has no other direct or indirect subsidiaries that have any bank balances in Cyprus," the
statement added.
Viacom18, which houses a portfolio of popular entertainment channels such as Colors and the Indian version of MTV, is
a joint venture between Viacom and Network 18 Media & Investments.
Write to R. Jai Krishna at krishna.jai@dowjones.com
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