J Sagar Associates (JSA) advised US-based media firm Viacom on its Rs 940 crore ($153m) buyout of Reliance subsidiary Shinano Retail’s stake in Network 18’s Prism TV. Shinano was advised by AZB & Partners.

JSA partner Akshay Nagpal, senior associate Kaustubh George and associates Upasana Gupta and Sonali Kapoor acted for Viacom with JSA partners Dhirendra Negi and Amitabh Kumar, telecom practice head SP Purwar and senior associate Gautam Sahi also assisting. JSA chairman and founder Jyoti Sagar provided strategic inputs.

AZB partner Shuva Mandal and associate Roxeanne Anderson acted for Shinano, which owned 50 per cent stake in Prism TV.

Prism TV owns and operates regional entertainment channels in India, including ETV Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Oriya and ETV Gujarati, all of which were recently rebranded under the ‘COLORS’ umbrella.

Viacom and Network18 are joint venture partners in Viacom18, and now in Prism TV. The deal was done through Viacom’s wholly owned subsidiary Nickelodeon Asia Holdings, reported the Economic Times.