Valuable Group to invest $100 Mn on defunct Disney service
Tuesday, 22 July 2008, 01:14 IST
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Mumbai: City-based media and technology firm Valuable Group, which last week acquired the Disney-founded MovieBeam - a facility that enables wireless transmission of movies into the set-top box in a customer's home - will invest $100 million over the next two years on the service, said a senior executive of the company Monday. "Though the deal is through, there are still many formalities yet to be fulfilled. And the operation involves improved technology which has to be put in place," said Valuable Group executive director Ameya Hete. The group's managing director Sanjay Gaikwad is currently in the US. Apart from buying over $200-million MovieBeam facility, Valuable Group has also acquired all its assets, trademarks, intellectual property rights (IPRs) and alliances that Disney, Intel, Cisco and other private equity investors had created since 2005. MovieBeam is a push video on-demand service launched by Disney in 2005, and in 2007, was acquired by Movie Gallery Inc. Ever since spinning off from Disney, the service went through a rough period until it was suspended last December. Valuable's investment is to re-launch this service. Valuable Group runs India's largest digital network, UFO Moviez, that digitally transmits movies to over 1,000 cinemas in South Asia. MovieBeam's acquisition will enable it to deliver ethnic and Hollywood content to homes and the hospitality industry worldwide. Films will be delivered in high definition - video system of higher resolution - and viewers will get access to library films as well as the latest releases on a first-day first-show basis.
Source: IANS
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