MxMIndia

Tag: Mahendra Mohan Gupta

  • Well, almost. Meanwhile, Radio Mantra, a venture promoted by Jagran promoters, is like to be merged with Music Broadcast Private Ltd

    Radio City is now a Jagran company

     

    By Sandeep Puraname

     

    It was an Ispat group and  Star India-funded station. And then private equity player India Value Fund Advisors bought a controlling stake in radio station network Radio City. But PE companies normally do not have much of a long-term emotional tuning with their investments. So, after ensuring that Radio City delivers with some success, they’ve sold the station and allied ventures to Jagran Prakashan.

     

    Subject to government approvals, Radio City will be a Jagran Prakash Limited subsidiary. Music Broadcast Private Limtied (MBPL), the company that owns Radio City, will be run independently by its board, and for the now, it’s business as usual.  More importantly, Apurva Purohit will stay as CEO.

     

    With reason: Radio City has demonstrated good revenue growth combined with a strong operating performance, current EBITDA margins of 28% approx will positively impact JPL’s operating margins, according to a communiqué.

     

    Radio City is a leader in the FM radio sector with a presence in 14 of the top 16 advertising revenue generating markets of the country. It has 20 stations across seven states. MBPL’s FY14 revenues were Rs 161.8 crore and the H1-FY15 (unaudited) revenues exhibit healthy growth of 28% in ad revenues.

     

    Although it’s being touted as JPL’s entry into radio, the fact is that the promoters of the Jagran group made an entry into radio with stations in Tier 2 and Tier 3 India way back in 2007. Radio Mantra has a presence in eight markets, and will be merged into MBPL eventually, in fact in this financial year itself.

     

    The acquisition, which happened through an all-cash deal, is expected to provide strong return on JPL’s invested capital. The foray into the high growth radio media segment which is increasing its share of advertising expenditures in India. This ensures that save news television, a sector it exited after it sold most of its stake to Network 18 some years back, Jagran Prakashan Limited has an exposure to all media domains.  According to a senior executive, there are no plans to invest in News TV, as it continues to feel that it is an unprofitable investement.

     

    On Tuesday, the board of Jagran Prakashan Limited (JPL) approved the entry of the company into the radio industry via acquisition of Music Broadcast Private Limited (MBPL). The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals, including from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and execution of binding agreements. As part of acquisition the company is acquiring MBPL’s holding company and fellow subsidiary that provides activations.

     

    Said Mahendra Mohan Gupta, CMD, Jagran Prakashan Limited: “The radio business has witnessed significant growth in recent past and is expected to grow at more that 18% CAGR in the coming years, per KPMG FICCI, This deal will catapult JPL into a leadership position in the radio industry and enable the company to benefit from the rapid growth in radio advertising. Acquisition of Radio City further consolidates our position as India’s leading Media and Communication Group. The radio business will complement our print, outdoor, activation and digital businesses and enable deeper inroads with advertisers both at national and local level.”

     

    Talking on the announcement, Apurva Purohit – CEO, Radio City 91.1 FM said, “JThis augurs well for all stakeholders. Both Jagran and Radio City have been pioneers and leaders in their respective space and this partnership will help augment the growth aspirations of the brand. We look forward to exciting times ahead.”

     

    As part of acquisition the company is acquiring MBPL’s holding company and fellow subsidiary that provides activations. The acquisition will primarily be funded from internal accruals and investments. This acquisition will not impair the company’s ability to distribute dividends.

     

  • The book showcases exclusive pictorial details of the significant monuments, art & craft, tradition and music, which are the cultural heritage of Lucknow city

    Jagran unveils ‘The Cultural Legacy of Lucknow’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dainik Jagran released its Coffee Table Book titled ‘The Cultural Legacy of Lucknow’. The book was unveiled by honourable Governor of UP, Shri Ram Naik at a gala function in Lucknow last week. The launch function took place at the vintage Clark Awadh hotel of the capital and was replete with prominent bureaucrats and top Jagran Group brass, including the CMD Shri Mahendra Mohan Gupta.

     

    15th in the line of JCTBs, ‘The Cultural Legacy of Lucknow’ in the line of JCTB series, showcases exclusive pictorial details of the significant monuments, art & craft, tradition and music, which are the cultural heritage of the city. This coffee table book documents contemporary Lucknow, which is known for its cosmopolitan lifestyle, modern infrastructure, shopping and tourist destinations that embellish the city. Well researched narratives in the book illuminate the historical and contemporary perspectives that speak volumes about the understandable exclusivity of the city.

     

    Shri Mahendra Mohan Gupta said, “Jagran Prakashan Ltd. is publishing coffee table books for last six years. I am proud that time and again we come up with such illuminating books on different genres.”

     

    Editor and COO of i-Next & Project Head of Jagran Coffee Table Book – Alok Sanwal said, “Jagran Prakashan Ltd wishes to contribute to bringing alive the glory of the city of Nawabs to the world through this unique Coffee Table Book, which unfurls the unsung glory of this wonderful city. I thank Sharmishtha Sharma, author, and the entire research, editorial and marketing teams for their outstanding and extensive support throughout.”

     

    Priced at Rs. 1500, this 210-page book is available on Flipkart and Infibeam portal for sale.

     

  • The Jagran group spreads its wings across another state, Madhya Pradesh, with the launch of compact daily i next's 14th edition in Indore

    i next launches Indore edition

    By A Correspondent

     

    Adding yet another city to its kitty, i next is launching its 14th edition (13th being inextlive.com) in the ‘sweet’ city of Indore on 2nd September. This edition allows the leading compact daily from Jagran group, which already has big presence in four states (UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand), to spread its wings across Madhya Pradesh, a key Hindi speaking territory. To the readers, i next Indore edition would reach in combo with Nai Duniya, which is already an established name in newspaper industry in MP.

     

    Set to complement Nai Duniya, i next as a relatively new and youthful daily offers a right balance to the mix; the former being a part of Indore’s famous journalistic traditions and its socio-cultural journey for more than six decades now.  The development is likely to slake the rich and diversified tastes of Indorians.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Shri Mahendra Mohan Gupta, CMD Jagran group held, “In the past six years, i next has moved from strength to strength. Its presence will also consolidate the already strong position of Nai Dunia.”

     

    Recently in news for winning World Young Reader ‘Newspaper of the Year, 2012’ award at WAN-IFRA summit, i next eyes for market expansion through an aggressive integrated campaign completing the loop between the readers, advertisers and the agencies. The development is set to alter the industry equations. Revealing the strategy behind the move, Salil Tandon, VP marketing, Nai Duniya said, “Indore is an education hub and a well read city. There is a huge variety in tastes and preferences of the readers here. We would try to leverage on this by giving our readers the combined advantage of a regular newspaper and an exciting compact daily.”

     

    He further emphasized the relevance of a tabloid like i next in the young city like Indore. “There are a lot of well off and progressive youngsters out here which have always been a core Target Group for i next. With its unique style of presentation and storytelling, I am sure, i next would be able to win their hearts.”

     

    Shailesh Gupta, Director, Marketing, JPL provided a perspective, “Indore is a very active market. A vibrant mix of traditional and modern attributes; be it entertainment, fashion, food, education or real estate. The infrastructure development has triggered a spate of growth in almost every industry here. From marketing point of view, Indore presents a huge retail market to benefit from.”

     

    The launch is being actively promoted through the campaign ‘Indore is my next’, supported by outdoor, radio, digital promotions, print Ads, banners and road shows. The targeted communication is being undertaken to introduce i next to the young audience of Indore.

     

  • Jagran Prakashan makes giant entry to Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh with Nai Dunia buy

    With Nai Dunia in the bag, Jagran is #1 print group

     

    By Archita Wagle

     

    There was no press conference announcing the deal. The Kanpur-based Jagran Prakashan Limited (JPL) simply did it by notifying the stock exchanges. The acquisition of Nai Dunia was done via Suvi Info Management (Indore) Private Limited which in turn owns Naidunia Media. It was an all-cash deal.

     

    What it does for the Jagran group is significant as its hold on the Hindi belt becificant, a factor that could help strike better contracts with advertisers. In fact, as an analysis with IRS 2011 Round 4 numbers shows, the Nai Dunia acquisition has helped JPL become the numero uno print media group in the country (see accompanying story: Saala Jagran No 1 print media group ban gaya…)

     

     

    Announcements of the deal on the front pages of Nai Dunia (left) and Dainik Jagran (right)

    According to an analyst from a domestic brokerage firm, this deal makes sense to JPL as the enterprise value assigned to Nai Dunia is Rs2.25 billion and had JPL planned a greenfield expansion in MPC, the total cost could have run into at least Rs3 billion.

     

    In an email interaction with MxMIndia, Mr Amit Jaiswal, Company Secretary, JPL clarified that JPL has acquired only Nai Dunia. NewsX and Webdunia are not a part of the deal. Talking about the changes after the deal he said: “Mr Vinay Chhajlani will continue as Advisor to Board. His vast experience of print and knowledge about the market will be quite useful for us. We will add some new members to the team at senior level in sales, marketing and editorial. Our corporate brand team will help in branding and communication. As far as the staff, the erstwhile promoters have already rationalized the staff strength to a large extent.”

     

    Commenting on the acquisition in a communique, Mr Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of Jagran said, “This was a logical market expansion for us and enables us to strengthen our presence in Central India. Nai Dunia is a newspaper with a very strong team and has demonstrated editorial excellence over the last decade.”

     

    Nai Dunia is the flagship publication of Naidunia Media Limited, which was launched June 5, 1947. Nai Dunia features amongst the top 10 Hindi dailies of India and has multiple editions in MP and Chhattisgarh and is the third largest read newspaper in Madhya Pradesh and the fourth largest read newspaper in Chhattisgarh (IRS Q4 2011). According to a Jagran communique, Nai Dunia’s current circulation base is around half a million copies per day with the readership growing 2.6 times over the last five years.

     

    The industry is almost unanimous in saying that the deal is windfall for both the parties involved, especially JPL, which can now enter the Madhya Pradesh-Chattisgarh (MPC) market. JPPL, controlled by GD Gupta family publishes the Jagran editions in Bhopal and Rewa in Madhya Pradesh and JPL, promoted by the PC Gupta family, has been barred from using Dainik Jagran banner in MP as it has been in litigation since 2007. But with the Nai Dunia acquisition, the other option for JPL, they are entering the MPC market with an established newspaper, which is the second largest newspaper in terms of readership and business volumes in MPC.

     

    “JPL will benefit in terms of circulation and readership as it gets two new territories, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, with the acquisition of an established and well-known newspaper. JPL couldn’t enter Madhya Pradesh as per the agreement in the family, but now taking over Nai Dunia has opened the MP market for them,” said Mr Vijaydutt Shridhar, senior MP-based journalist and ex-editor of Navbharat.

     

    Mr Abhishek Karnani, Director, Free Press Journal which also has an edition in Indore, echoed Mr Shridhar’s sentiments: “The takeover deal is a windfall for both, JPL and Nai Dunia. Entering the MPC market was the next logical move for JPL. Initially the market had only Dainik Bhaskar and Nai Dunia but several local new publications with strong backing were launched in the market. Nai Dunia made a smart move in selling out rather than being marginalised in the market.”

     

    Says Mr Sundeep Nagpal of leading media consulting firm Stratagem, “This is in line with what other leading groups have done – like the Times of India group did with Vijaya Karanataka.” According to Mr Nagpal, the acquisition is a win-win for all parties involved.

     

    “With Nai Dunia’s acquisition, JPL has gained foothold in an important and growing market for Hindi publications. Nai Dunia never grew much beyond Indore, though they had launched editions in other cities. But with an aggressive player like JPL taking over we can expect to see Nai Dunia growing in other centres too. JPL has now entered Dainik Bhaskar’s territory. We can now expect a good fight,” said Mr Janardhan Pandey, associate VP, DDB Mudra.

     

    Stockmarket analysts though are a little cautious about this face-off as they believe that DB Corp will not be impacted because of the entry of JPL from a short to medium term perspective. But they say that Patrika would be impacted as Jagran would become aggressive to win back the No. 2 slot in MPC. The analysts also feel that the price paid (net of tax benefits) is inexpensive and should derive benefits in the medium to long-term.

     

    For the cash-rich Jagran group, the Nai Dunia acquisition follows that of Mid-Day two years ago and the management plans that Nai Dunia will be consolidated once a year just like Mid-Day.

    Saala Jagran No 1 print media group ban gaya…

    By A Correspondent

     

    Question: Until last fiscal, which was the largest print publishing house in the country?

    Answer: No, the answer is not Dainik Jagran. It’s Dainik Bhaskar, In fact, Jagran was at No 3 until two days ago, just behind the BCCL group. But with the buyout of the Nai Dunia group, Jagran now becomes the largest print media group in the country. Check tables below:

     

     

     

    Note: MRUC does not share detailed IRS numbers with the media. Given that we had adequate time for the confirmation of the Nai Dunia buy, we collected the information from what MRUC shared with us and from respective media entities.

     

     
  • It's now official. Jagran Prakashan Limited has announced its acquisition of NaiDunia, the leading daily of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

    Jagran announces NaiDunia acquisition

    It’s now official. Kanpur-based Jagran Prakashan Limited has announced that it has acquired Suvi Info Management (Indore) Private Limited. Naidunia Media Limited is a subsidiary of Suvi and is engaged in publishing the leading daily NaiDunia in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

    Launched in 1947, NaiDunia has over the years become a major player in the Central Indian states. It has multiple editions — from Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Bhopal in MP and Raipur and Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh.

    Said Mr Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of Jagran, “This was a logical market expansion for us and enables  us to strengthen our presence in Central India. Nai Dunia is a newspaper with a very strong team and has demonstrated editorial excellence over the last decade.”

    According to a Jagran communique, NaiDunia’s current circulation base is around half a million copies per day with the readership growing 2.6 times over the last five years.

    For the cash-rich Jagran group, the NaiDunia acquisition follows that of Mid-Day two years back. The inorganic growth process will continue, a source close to the development had told MxMIndia last week. “We are well on our way towards implementing our strategy for inorganic growth through mergers and acquisitions as on the one hand it allows to begin with a sizeable scale with much lesser investment and on the other hand, it saves long gestation period typical of print industry. The acquisition will enable us to leverage our existing network and will have significant operating synergies.”