MUMBAI: Gaurav Seth, Head of Marketing at Max, will take additional charge as Head of Marketing at Sony Entertainment Television following Danish Khan?s exit.

Danish Khan has put in his papers as the Head of Marketing SET and is currently serving his notice period.

Multi Screen Media COO NP Singh confirmed the news to Indiantelevision.com. "Yes, Danish Khan has quit Sony," he said.

Seth will continue to handle the marketing of both the channels. He will also be responsible for the marketing of MSM?s biggest property, the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Search is on for Seth?s replacement at Max.

"I am looking forward to take the new responsibility (as Marketing Head of SET). I will also be handling marketing of Max till the time there is a replacement for me," Seth said.

"Besides, I will also be handling IPL purely from continuity point of view. I have been handling IPL for the past four years, so it was felt that I should look after it for this season too since the tournament is too close," he added.

The IPL season 6 will be housed under MSM?s sports and entertainment channel Sony Six which went on air in April this year.

Danish Khan could not be reached for comment till the time of filing this report.

NEW DELHI: Sony Pictures has been permitted by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to buy out the Indian promoters in Multi Screen Media as it feels that the "proposed combination is not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India".

The Commission gave its approval under Section 31 (1) of the Competition Act, noting that the approval is without prejudice to any other legal/statutory obligations and will stand revoked if the information provided by the parties is found to be incorrect.

The Commission said: "Upon consummation of the proposed combination, the shareholding of Sony In MSM will increase from 62 to 94.39 per cent and thereafter, the acquirers will make MSM India undertaken any action including those mentioned in the Shareholders Agreement for which currently the consent/approval of the sellers - Atlas Equifin and Grandway Global Holdings would be required."

Thus, the combination will result in transfer from joint to sole control for the purposes of the Combination Regulations.

Sony Pictures Television (SPT), a wholly owned subsidiary of the US-based Sony Pictures Entertainment, had in June inked a deal with these shareholders to acquire 32 per cent stake for $271 million.

The seven Indian promoters, including Singapore-based investment banker Rakesh Agarwal, Shemaroo Films managing director Raman Maroo, World Media Group‘s Sudesh Iyer, actor Jackie Shroff and businessman Sadanand Sule, together own 32 per cent in the broadcaster via their consortium company Atlas Equifin and Grandway Global Holdings.

After the acquisition, the remaining six per cent will be held by international fund Capital International Group.

The deal is subject to government approval and the transaction will be completed by the end of December.

According to MSM CEO Manjit Singh, acquisition of the shares will be made in stages, with $145 million (about Rs 8.09 billion) expected to be paid by SPT by the end of December. The remaining $126 million will be paid in three equal annual installments starting from the fiscal year ending March 2014.

MSM runs eight channels: Sony TV, Max, Sab, Sony Pix, AXN, Animax and the recently launched music channel Mix and sports channel Six.