Reliance Industries denies selling news media biz

New Delhi: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries on Thursday denied reports of selling its news media business to Times Group.

Bloomberg early on Thursday reported that Ambani "is in talks to sell his news media assets to India's Times Group, as Asia's richest man plans to unload a business that's been losing money".

"Reliance Industries firmly denies (the) story. The story is baseless and false," a company spokesperson said.

The report had quoted people familiar with the matter to say that Bennett Coleman & Co, the publisher of the Times of India, is looking to hire advisers for due diligence on the news properties of Ambani's Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

Bennett Coleman's spokesperson couldn't be immediately reached for comments.

Reliance had in 2014 bought Network18, which owns and operates 56 local channels spanning news and entertainment, for up to Rs 4,000 crore.