The Venture Intelligence Blog

From the Business Today profile of the 80+-year-old sports gear maker: The company's revenues - split almost 50-50 between exports and domestic sales - are growing at an annual rate of 25 per cent and expected to close this financial year at Rs 80 crore, up from Rs 60 crore last year. The share of exports has steadily gone down. "The proportion of exports to domestic sales was 55:45 last year, and we are planning to reverse it this year," says Anand. Buoyed by this growth, the company is planning to foray into uncharted territories now. "We will launch Maxxport, our sports-inspired apparel and footwear label by mid-March. The sports apparel and footwear market is growing at 20 to 30 per cent. A bigger market means bigger growth," says Anand, adding he expects Maxxport sales to touch Rs 15 crore by 2013. The year will also mark the debut of SG's own brand in the overseas markets - a move considered a little risky because its whitelabel overseas buyers may no...

ContentSutra interviewed Nimbus Communications' Chairman Harish Thawani, in the context of the PE-backed firm's renewal of its contract to broadcast test and one-day cricket matches played in India. What is the per match rate you are paying and is the case that this time there are fewer matches? Again, it depends on the exchange rate and other factors, but it is about Rs31 crore. The number of matches are about 15% lower at this stage. The schedule is subject to change and we have left enough flexibility in the deal to work around future changes. What does the deal mean for Nimbus? Are you looking to raise cash? We are not looking to raise money. We had a third round of investments in 2009 by our existing investors 3I, Cisco and Oman International Fund. The focus is on growing Neo Cricket. The channel will soon be available also in Europe and North America. We already have a very strong presence across Asia. We are also planning two new channels. Do you think that ODIs will su...