On 2 March and 19 March 2007, Foreign Investment Promotion Board and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting gave Astro the required approvals to acquire 20 percent interest in Sun Direct. On 10 December 2007, Astro completed the subscriptions of 39,677,420 new shares in Sun Direct for a total cash consideration of Rs 315.71 crore. Following the completion of the subscription, Astro had a shareholding interest of 20 percent in Sun Direct. During the period February 2008-January 2009, Astro subscribed for a further 29,319,882 new shares in Sun Direct for a total cash consideration of Rs 233.3 crore. The new shares were subscribed proportionately with the Maran family’s shareholding in Sun Direct, so Astro’s shareholding remained at 20 percnet equity interest in Sun Direct as before. On 5 December 2009, Astro subscribed for 6,283,775 additional shares of Rs 10 each in Sun Direct at a total cash consideration of Rs 50 crore at a subscription price of Rs 79.57 per subscription share. Subsequent to the above subscription, the holding of Astro in Sun Direct stood at 20 percent.
On 28 February 2008, a Maxis Group company Astro through its wholly owned subsidiary South Asia Multimedia Technologies Ltd acquired 6.98 percent equity interest in South Asia FM Ltd (SAFL), a FM company owned by the Maran Group, which had licences to own and operate 23 FM radio stations in India, for a total cash consideration of Rs 14.92 crore. In July 2009, changes to the foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations in the radio industry allowed Astro to increase its direct stake in SAFL to 20 percent in July 2009 in the following manner: Subscription of 1,922,854 new SAFL equity shares at par at a total subscription price of Rs 19.23 crore on 22 June 2009; Subscription of 19,389,198 new SAFL equity shares at par at a total subscription price of Rs 19.39 crore on 23 July 2009; Acquisition of 13,836,296 existing SAFL equity shares from AH Multisoft Private Ltd at par at a total purchase price of Rs 13.84 crore on 23 July 2009; and Subscription of 43,900, 136 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) of Rs 10 each in SAFL at a subscription price of Rs 43.90 crore on 3 August 2009. Denying the allegations of suspected payoffs, Maxis Communication Berhad in a press release issued on 24 May, stated that there was no pressure exerted on Siva Group to sell its stake in Aircel. The company also asserted that there was no linkage between Maxis’ investment in Aircel and that of Astro’s in vestment in Sun Direct TV. What the CBI is probing in The Maxis-Sun Direct deal? The CBI has charged Raja for fraudulent implementation of the first-come-firstserve policy of granting licences. The CBI has not faulted Raja for not opting for the auction route, but he has