Zee Media buys 50% stake in English daily DNA

Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) has recently announced its intention to enter into print media business by partnering with Essel Publishers. The announcement of amalgamation made to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is supported by 652 people out of 683 shareholders who expresed their opinion in a postal ballot held between 30 October and 28 November.

Earlier in 2012, the Subhash Chandra owned company Essel Group had cemented its position in the industry by acquiring 50 per cent stake in the English national newspaper DNA.

For the recent amalgamation process, the group had sent out scheme documents to its investors, which reads, “Having already built a nationwide largest television news network with its varied news channels, with an object of creating a news powerhouse in the country, Zee Media aspires to expand its product offering across multiple platforms, regions and languages.”

Alok Agrawal, ZMCL CEO, has expressed that merger process will take a year’s time to be finally completed. He said that it’s only after the decision of stakeholders that “Zee Media will be in a position to leverage the combined network of resources, working in an integrated newsroom through multiple platforms as well as providing a bouquet of services to advertisers which would strengthen its market reach.”

Explaining the structure, Agrawal said, “future Stories will be shared across the two mediums thus allowing English, Hindi and other regional languages to benefit from each other.”

When asked about how ZMCL has convinced shareholders about the expansion plans, Agrawal explained, “The overwhelming response we got was surely a bit of a surprise but they saw the good opportunity. As a TV channel, our reach was limited and the amalgamation makes it more holistic and well rounded.”

ZMCL has claimed that its bouquet of six channels in news space will reach out around 130 million viewers.

Amid this amalgamation, the combined authorized capital of Essel Publishers and ZMCL has been increased by 170 crores with 100 crores from ZMCL and 70 crores from Essel Publishers.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/3806-zee-media-buys-50-stake-in-english-daily-dna.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/3806-zee-media-buys-50-stake-in-english-daily-dna.html