Paradise Papers reveal Amitabh Bachchan was shareholder in Bermuda firm now closed
Paradise Papers reveal Amitabh Bachchan was shareholder in Bermuda firm now closed
In 2000-01, Bollywood Superstar king of kings Amitabh Bachchan became shareholder of a digital media company incorporated in Bermuda in 2002.
Appleby records Bachchan and Silicon Valley venture investor Navin Chaddha as shareholders of Jalva Media Ltd on June 19, 2002. The company was set up in Bermuda on July 20, 2000 and dissolved in 2005.
Till the introduction of the Liberalized Remittance Scheme in 2004, all investments abroad made by resident Indians required prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India. It’s not clear if the shareholding was disclosed to RBI.
Jalva Media Inc was launched by four young Indian entrepreneurs in California in January 2000. The Indian arm — Jalva.com India Pvt Ltd (later Jalva Media India Pvt Ltd) — came up in February, followed by a third company in Bermuda in July.
In July 2000, Jalva-India announced receiving $3.2 million in angel investment from leading Silicon Valley entrepreneurs including Navin Chaddha, then chairman and CEO of Biztro, a California-based business operations platform.
Jalva also set a short-term target to raise another $15 million in venture finance. Jalva Media had already signed up for the live webcast of International Indian Film Academy Awards from the Millennium Dome in London.
The company launched dekhofilm.com in October 2000 and tied up with IBM in June 2001 to provide “a complete content management solution for the media and entertainment industry.” Jalva also set up its Digital Media Innovation Laboratory in Mumbai.
Jalva failed to make profits and Urshit Parikh had already left to join Kuokoa Networks in November 2001. Gautam Anand left in September 2003 and Shailendra J Singh in July 2004.
On October 28, 2005, Appleby records show, a notice was published in The Bermuda Sun, stating that Jalva-Bermuda, listed as “bad debtor”, “shall stand dissolved”.
Appleby had already terminated services to the company on January 14, 2004.
Jalva-India survived on paper till it opted for the ‘Easy Exit Scheme 2011’ of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, for being “inoperative for the past six years due to the reason of business not being successful.” As a director, Tarun Arora completed the formalities.
The website jalvamedia.com shows following page
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Monday, November 6, 2017
Tags – Paradise Papers Big B Amitabh Bachchan Jalva Media
