New Delhi: Sunil Rajshekhar is a collector.
His office on the second floor of Times House, home to Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL), one of the largest media houses, is full of paintings, miniatures and objects in metal, glass and terracotta.
“I like collecting such stuff,” says Rajshekhar, a director of BCCL and head of Private Treaties, an ambitious attempt by the media giant to form lasting financial and advertising partnerships with companies looking for a leg-up, using its array of market-leading publications, including The Times of India and The Economic Times newspapers, as well as television, radio, the Internet, outdoor advertising and magazines.
Launched in 2004, the treaties translate into the cash-rich BCCL picking up equity stakes in companies in return for promoting those “partners” through long-term advertising and other publicity deals.
Click here for the complete list of BCCL’s private treaty portfolio
And, the collector in Rajshekhar has, in a short time, managed to accumulate impressive clients, turning the unlisted BCCL into one of the largest private equity investors in India with investments estimated to be around Rs1,500 crore across at least 140 companies in retail, consumer durables, aviation, the media and entertainment, to name a few key sectors.
While 120 deals have been announced, others in smaller markets such as Surat, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, are likely to be announced in coming weeks in a programme that continues to gather steam even as it attracts nascent me-too tactics among other media companies.
Typically, BCCL’s stakes range from a low 1% to as high as 15%, and some 45 such treaty clients are now listed companies, including sugar giant Bajaj Hindusthan and India’s largest listed retailer by market capitalization, Pantaloon Retail India Ltd, a part of Kishore Biyani’s Future Group.
While Rajshekhar declined to talk about valuations, at least three senior BCCL executives, none of whom wanted to be named, claimed the current market value of the company’s Treaty portfolio is around Rs5,000 crore, well above the annual revenues of BCCL, which are estimated, in the year ended June 2007, at around Rs3,500 crore.
The company has an estimated annual profit of Rs1,000 crore before tax, which has been rising rapidly in recent years and is the source of the treaty funds.
Private Treaties is a part of a “new enterprise from The Times of India Group meant to catalyse exciting change from a commoditized country to Brand India of 21st century,” says the company on its website,www.privatetreaties.com.