After entering media business in March last year by acquiring Quintillion Business Media, which operates business & financial news digital media platform BQ Prime, Adani Group has now acquired a majority stake in news agency IANS India Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed sum as the group expands its presence in the media space.
In a regulatory filing, Adani Enterprises -- the firm that holds the group's media interest – said its subsidiary "AMG Media Networks Ltd has acquired a 50.50% stake constituting equity shares of IANS India Pvt Ltd." The company did not disclose the acquisition price.
Earlier, in December last year, Adani Group took nearly 65% stake in television broadcaster NDTV.
For all these acquisitions of media outlets, AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL), has been the vehicle used by the group.
In the filing, it said, "AMNL has also signed a shareholders' agreement with IANS and Sandeep Bamzai, a shareholder of IANS, to record their inter-se rights with respect to IANS." IANS had a revenue of Rs 11.86 crore in the fiscal year 2022-23 (April 2022 to March 2023).
"All operational and management control of IANS will be with AMNL and AMNL will have the right to appoint all directors of IANS," the filing said.
Founded in 1986, by Indian American publisher Gopal Raju as the "India Abroad News Service" and later renamed to Indo-Asian News Service (or IANS), IANS India Pvt Ltd is divided into six business verticals: IANS News Service (English & Hindi), IANS Multimedia, IANS Publishing, IANS Media Consultancy, IANS Software Services, IANS Mobile Services.
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