Worldspace India staff complain to PM
Written by Chris Forrester
Thursday, 07 January 2010 10:23
Worldspace’s 300 or so staff members have signed a petition to India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The letter states that Reliance’s ‘Big TV’ and Tata Sky’s DTH operations were both involved in discussions to acquire Worldspace India.
The letter argues that Worldspace’s incoming buyer, Liberty Media, has decided to close its Indian pay-radio operation in order “to wipe off the current liabilities with subsidiary, subscribers, employees, vendors and business associates.†The letter alleges that that the whole process was being carried out in a hushed manner to avoid participation of Indian investors in the deal.
“Despite India being a primary market, the sale of the asset is being concluded without publicising the same in India and ruling out any possibility of a domestic investor in India participating in the sale,†states the letter to the Prime Minister.
As to the preliminary discussions with Big TV and Tata Sky, “The discussion, however, with both of them never moved to the second stage,†said a Worldspace official talking to India’s DNA Newspaper (where the story is given front page treatment in the Business section).
The initial feedback from the ministries involved suggests that “the government will in all probability give a timeline within which this has to be solved or else risk facing a ban,†said a source to Rapid TV News.
The letter to the Prime Minister continues: “In summary, Liberty Media and Mr Robert Schmitz, the current chief restructuring officer of Worldspace Inc, want to escape from liabilities in India while retaining the assets for encashing the India business opportunity in India at a later date.â€
The note says Liberty Media and Worldspace have cleared their liabilities in all other countries of operation. “Certain loopholes in our system are being misused to escape from responsibilities of orderly closure of the business.â€
The employees have requested the government intervene in the matter to ensure that the radio service provider exits only after following the due process applicable to any other media or telecom services in India. They have also asked for sale of satellite assets to be publicised and restriction of re-entry of Worldspace/Liberty in India in a new guise until all issues relating to its liabilities and protection of stakeholders are resolved.
© Rapid TV News 2010