MUMBAI: Indian cable TV major DEN Networks is increasingly getting itself out of the sports den it had gotten itself into earlier. Today, the Sameer Manchanda-promoted SN Sharma-run Goldman Sachs-backed multisystem operator (MSO) informed the BSE that it had divested another 25 per cent equity from its sports initiative DEN Sports in favour of Wall Street Investments.

The latter represents the business interests of the UAE-based entrepreneur Dr Anil Sharma-run GMS group. GMS is a world major buyer of ships for recycling.

The price at which the equity stake has been transferred was not disclosed to the stock exchange, but Wall Street Investments holding in DEN Sports has gone up to 80 per cent equity while DEN Network’s has fallen to 20 per cent. DEN Sports controls 100 per cent of DEN Soccer which manages the Indian Soccer League Delhi-franchise owning Delhi Dynamos F.C.

Wall Street Investments, on its part, has received Registrar of Companies permission to change the name of the two firms to Delhi Sports and Delhi Soccer. And DEN Networks also gave the name change the go-ahead following a board meeting.

Earlier this year, DEN Networks had lopped off 55 per cent of its stake in DEN Sports to Wall Street Investments at a price of Rs 43.32 crore.

The cable TV firm has been under pressure from its investors to get back to business basics and monetise better the cable TV digitisation process that India has been going through over the past three years. It rehired co-founder SN Sharma from Reliance Jio as the CEO to get its house in order.