Asianet Communications was the first entertainment television company in Malayalam. It was promoted by Sashi Kumar with seed capital provided by Reji Menon. Kumar was a former head of Press Trust of India's television division and his relative Menon was a Moscow-based businessman. When Asianet faced a financial crunch, the real estate firm Rahejas was given 50% stake in the cable operations. The channels were still owned by Sashi Kumar and Reji Menon. The Rahejas later wanted a stake in the channel operations too. While Kumar resisted overtures from the Rahejas, Menon negotiated a deal with them, and under the deal, the Rahejas got full control over the cable company. Menon used the consideration the Rahejas paid him to provide Kumar a "golden handshake". Afterwards an attempt by Zee Group to acquire Asianet from Menon fell through. This was apparently because the severance agreement with the cable company prohibits the channel's takeover by a company with interest in cable operations.
Rajiv Chandrasekhar era (2006 - 2008)
In late 2006 Reji Menon - after months long speculations - partially pulled out of Asianet turning over control to Rajeev Chandrasekhar. At the time, Asianet was the leader amongst the Malayalam channels accounting for 35% of Kerala's total advertisement market. Chandrasekhar had acquired a 51% stake in the Asianet channels through Jupiter Entertainment Ventures in October 2006. While there was no official word from Asianet on the size of the investment, the figure is thought to range between INR 120-150 crore. The remaining 49% stake was still held by Reji Menon and Asianet MD K. Madhavan with Zee Group holding a small 3% stake. Madhavan continued as the MD of Asianet, while Chandrasekhar took over as the Chairman of the company. Asianet Communications soon launched its foray into Kannada and Telugu television industry with Asianet Suvarna and Asianet Sitara.
Star India acquisitions (2008 - 2014)
Asianet was restructured into four companies in June 2008. This move was to allow separate investments in each company. Star India started talks with the owners of the Asianet channels in August, 2008. Star India eventually bought a 51% stake in Asianet Communications and formed joint venture with JEV in November, 2008. The joint venture, called "Star Jupiter", comprised all general entertainment channels of Asianet october 8 2013 bombay march 12 Communications and Star Vijay. Star India had reportedly paid $235 million in cash for the 51% stake and assumed net debt of approximately $20 million. It's not clear how much stake Menon held in the new Star Jupiter venture. Prior to forming the JV, it was known that the original founder had held about 26% stake. Star India increased its stake in Asianet Communications to 75% in July 2010, and to 87%, by acquiring 12% stake for $160 million in June, 2013. The later move was by virtue of acquiring a 19% equity stake in Vijay TV from Chandrasekhar and Asianet Communications MD Madhavan. Following the June, 2013 investment, Asianet Communications was valued at $1.33 billion. Star India acquired 100% stake in Asianet Communications in March, 2014.
