Amar Ujala among the highest bidders
The fate of Prabhat Khabar’s new ownership will be decided in a few days. The big newspaper groups in the race — Jagran Prakashan, Dainik Bhaskar, Bennett, Coleman & Co., Amar Ujala and ABP — to buy Prabhat Khabar have apparently bid between Rs 50 crore and Rs 115 crore. Media industry sources say that the UP-based Amar Ujala, owned by Atul Maheshwari and Anil Agrawal, is among the highest bidders. Since the Jhawars of Usha Martin declined comment, the bid estimates are guesstimates and not precise numbers. An executive of one of the bidders says that the paper should not be valued at more than Rs 55-60 crore because the latest readership surveys show the paper trailing behind Hindustan in Jharkhand. With a readership of 10.77 lakh, Hindustan has marched ahead of Prabhat Khabar’s readership of 9.86 lakh. Dainik Jagran with a readership of 7.73 lakh is not far behind. Others point out that Prabhat Khabar’s circulation is still its strong point. Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figu...