Amar Ujala to get a strategic partner: Indian Express

Amar Ujala, the fourth largest Hindi daily in terms of readership, is set to get a strategic partner. One of India’s largest regional media groups will acquire an 18 per cent stake in Amar Ujala Publications Ltd (AUPL), the company that publishes the newspaper, it is learnt.

Amar Ujala has been in the news for the past two years, ever since private equity firm DE Shaw, which had picked up an 18 per cent stake in AUPL in 2006 for Rs 117 crore, sought an exit and a return of around 25% on its investment.

DE Shaw was insistent that AUPL either lists itself or sells to a buyer identified by the private equity firm. When AUPL resisted, DE Shaw dragged the company to court. After a prolonged and messy battle, AUPL agreed to pay DE Shaw for its 18 per cent stake.

AUPL has ever since been looking for a strategic investor. The company valued itself at around Rs 850 crore.

Subhash Chandra’s Zee Group entered the fray recently, and there were some rumours that Amar Ujala’s promoters would sell the newspaper to Zee for around Rs 1,100 crore.

AUPL’s promoters, the Maheshwari family, however, only wanted to raise funds to pay DE Shaw, not to sell the paper, sources close to the development said. The promoters finally decided to sell DE Shaw’s 18 per cent stake to one of the country’s largest newspaper groups for around Rs 150-170 crore, the sources said.

AUPL executive director Sunil Mutreja declined to comment on the development.

The deal is likely to boost both the prospective partners’ presence in markets in the north, where Amar Ujala is already a serious player. The newspaper sells close to 20 lakh copies, and is the number two player in Uttar Pradesh after Dainik Jagran, the country’s most read Hindi newspaper. AUPL’s turnover and net profit last year were Rs 600 crore and Rs 30 crore, respectively.

Courtesy Indian Express