"We are targeting an American Depositary Shares or a global depository receipts listing in the third quarter," Zee Network executive president, finance, and global CFO BR Jaju told The Financial Express.

The move culminates the company's chairman Subhash Chandra's ambition of an overseas listing after the merger of the Mauritius-based Zee Multimedia Worldwide with Zee Telefilms.

"The consolidation was part of a move in this direction. Chandra is looking at the size of his media empire. Bigger the size, the easier it will be for him to raise funds from overseas," a media analyst said.

The raising of additional funds, however, will not be to pay out Zee Telefilm's acquisition in the three joint venture companies with the Rupert Murdoch-owned Star TV.

"The funds will be used to meet the expansion of the company's business and not to pay Murdoch," said Jaju. Zee has to pay $148.25 million in cash and a similar amount by way of equity shares.

The Zee scrip (par value Re 1) which has been witnessing a steady rise on the bourses over the last few sessions on Monday opened at Rs 1,430 on the BSE and touched the day's high at Rs 1,481 before closing at Rs 1,420.

"Chandra's move for an overseas listing will make him a serious international player," said a media analyst. The company on Monday informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that it would call a board meeting on February 25 to take in "principle the decision to raise funds by way of issuance of additional equity shares and to list the same on the foreign stock exchange." Zee will work out an internal evaluation for its proposed overseas issue soon. The company will appoint financial agencies to carry out the evaluation and other details. "We hope to end this process by the month-end," said Jaju. Zee has been eyeing an overseas listing since last year for which the company had decided to publish its financial accounts following the US GAAP norms.

INSIGHT

perfect timing
The timing of the Zee Telefilms' move for an ADS/GDR offering couldn't have been better. Infotech and entertainment companies of Indian origin have been receiving phenomenal valuations on the international bourses. Infosys Technologies, for instance, enjoys double the discounting on American bourses than on domestic bourses. The recent success of Satyam Infoway ADRs is another case in point. Besides, the RPG group company, Saregama, has become a hot favourite on London's Ofex markets. The Zee Telefilms stock already enjoys a discounting of over 600 on the domestic bourses.

Gaurav Dua