Viacom Inc. today announced that it has acquired a 50% interest in Prism TV for Rs 9.4 billion. 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.

The transaction was completed today between Nickelodeon Asia Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Viacom Inc, and Shinano Retail, a company effectively 100% owned by Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries. The parties received clearance from India's Foreign Investment Promotion Board earlier this month.

With this acquisition, Viacom Inc. will hold 50% of Prism TV and the remaining 50% interest will continue to be owned by the Network18 Group, Viacom's partner in the Viacom18 joint venture.