In a major relief to Sun TV Group, the Delhi HC has allowed Red FM to extend license till November 30. It has been granted extension in three circles-- Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Here, the licenses were to expire on September 30.However, the Digital Radio has sought migration of its license from Phase II to Phase III, which still remains pending. Red FM is an associate company of Kalanithi Maran-promoted Sun TV Group.Earlier, the FM channel was denied security clearance and hence, participation in the stage III of FM auctions.The government had declined security clearance to the group on the basis of inputs received against former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran and Sun TV. On the same, SL Narayan, Sun Group's CFO says, Red FM should not be denied doing business due to a 'completely unconnected case'. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Narayan categorically denies rumours about any stake sale or divestment plans by Maran. The company will migrate post the HC order, he adds.The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 369.05, up 3.3 percent from Monday's closing.Below is the transcript of SL Narayanan's interview with Reema Tendulkar & Nigel D'Souza on CNBC-TV18. Reema: This lease has been extended only till November 30th, what happens thereafter?
A: The court will take additional time to rule on this case. The point here was we were not allowed to migrate so against that we have moved the court and that relief is what we have got now.
Reema: So you will be able to migrate now to Phase III?
A: Yes.
Nigel: Is this a done and dusted deal or do you believe that the government can go ahead and approach the Supreme Court (SC) and does it have any kind of financial impact on the company immediately?
A: I wouldn’t be able to comment on what the government will do or not do. So I shouldn’t be saying anything on the subject. However, suffice it to say that our consistent plea before the authorities was we cannot be denied the right to do business simply because the principal shareholder in the upstream holding company is being named in some proceedings in a completely unconnected group company.
Reema: How many channels did you stop migration for from phase II to Phase III?
A: This order involves Red FM so it relates to Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Nigel: But in terms of the migration in terms of Phase II to pPase III, what is the additional income you are looking at in terms of frequencies that you have won in Phase III earlier?
A: The additional frequencies that we have got, it will be difficult to say anything because they are based on business plan projections so we don’t know if those projections would fructify from future dated. But suffice it to say that we did not go ahead with certain places where the crisis had gone way above the tolerance limit that we have set for ourselves so we have bid very cautiously and therefore we chose not to pursue certain destinations.
Reema: There was talk that the promoters are looking to sell stake in the company, any comments?
A: I have categorically denied that. He has no intention of selling anything, no intention of diluting his stake, in fact there has been a lot of speculation on this, we will continue to carry on the way we were.
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