Homeshop18 and Shop CJ join to form new TV home shopping platform

Home Shopping Network (“Homeshop18”) and Shop CJ Network (“Shop CJ”) are combining to form a new television home shopping channel in India.

The board of directors of the two companies approved a definitive agreement to combine the businesses of both entities. The transaction is aimed at uniting two of India’s top home-shopping players, to create the largest home-shopping platform in the country.

Homeshop 18 was launched in April 2008. Shop CJ was launched in September 2009, as Star CJ Alive – a 50:50 joint venture between Star India and CJ O Shopping. These two were the only national-level home shopping channels in the country.

The resultant benefits of scale shall better the growth prospects for the combined entity, allowing it to improve its standing in the TV home-shopping landscape and compete better with the challenge from e-commerce players. HomeShop18 has optimised its operations substantially since the challenges faced last year. It says multiple synergies with respect to sourcing, marketing and delivery can be exploited through a combination with Shop CJ, which will accelerate this process.

This combination shall be effected by way of a share-swap. The shareholders of Shop CJ will be issued 25 per cent equity in HomeShop18, making Shop CJ a subsidiary of HomeShop18. After the transaction, HomeShop18 shall cease to be a subsidiary of Network18 Media and Investments. However, Network18 will continue to be the largest shareholder in the combined entity.

HomeShop18 is India's first digital commerce player, selling a variety of brands to customers nationally through not just TV, but also internet and mobile. As a pioneer, HomeShop18 changed the way Indians shop by launching India's first 24 hour Home Shopping TV channel in 2008. Today, HomeShop18 has an impressive portfolio of over 14 million SKU's across multiple categories and a logistical reach of over 3000 locations across India.

Shop CJ Network (Formerly Known as Star CJ Network India) is a 50:50 joint venture between the South Korean home shopping major, CJO Shopping Co and the P5 Asia Holding Investments (Mauritius), belonging to the Providence Equity Partners group.

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