Mail Today to become wholly owned subsidiary of TV Today
TV Today said that Living Media which holds 66.78% of total equity shares of Mail Today shall transfer all its equity shares of the daily tabloid to the company
New Delhi: In a bid to consolidate its news business, TV Today Network which owns the India Today Group of publications, on Tuesday approved the acquisition of Mail Today, a daily tabloid published by the India Today Group in a joint venture with British newspaper Daily Mail since 2007. The joint venture operates under Mail Today Newspapers Pvt Ltd.
In its board meeting on Tuesday, the company which also operates news channels Aaj Tak and India Today, said that Living Media India Limited (a 100% subsidiary) which holds 66.78% of total equity shares of Mail Today shall transfer all its equity shares of the daily tabloid to the company by way of a gift. Its foreign counterpart, Associated News , now referred to as DMG Media which owns 25.21% stake in Mail Today will also do the same, making Mail Today a wholly owned subsidiary of the TV Today Network, the company said in a filing to the BSE.
The total value of shares to be acquired by TV Today amounts to Rs36.92 crore.
“TV Today Network Ltd (TVTN) proposes to consolidate the news business of Mail Today with the channel business of TVTN to bring in editorial and business synergy," the company said.The acquisition is likely to be completed in the next three months.
Mail Today Newspapers Pvt Ltd reported a profit of ₹ 6 crore in FY 2016.
According to Abneesh Roy, analyst at Edelweiss Securities India, these kind of deals are very rare. “The acquiring company will have to invest a lot initially to strengthen the product. Since TV Today’s television business is profitable they could tap into that pool. Basically now their daily news print brand is listed and there will be more synergy coming into that segment. However, Delhi continues to be a tough market for smaller print brands to succeed in," he added.
HT Media, which publishes Mint, competes with the India Today group
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