Reed Business Information US (RBI US), a division of Reed Elsevier Group plc, has picked up a 51 per cent stake in a joint venture with Infomedia India Pvt Ltd to publish Reed’s international b2b titles in India.

The JV, named Reed Infomedia India Pvt Ltd, will exclude all existing titles of Infomedia, some of which are being published by Infomedia under licensing terms with Ringier Publishing.

A company announcement quoted James Casella, Vice Chairman, Reed Business, who is also overall responsible for development of BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India and China), saying, “Reed Business is excited by the opportunity to enter the fast-growing Indian marketplace. We are looking to combine Reed Business Information’s global brands and vertical industry expertise with the publishing capabilities and local knowledge of Infomedia India to create the pre-eminent portfolio of B2B titles in India.”

Stating that India was a priority market for Reed, Casella added, “India, with its growing consumerism, a buoyant economy, and mass affluent population, has opened up a market for critical business information – a space where Reed is the acknowledged leader.”

Prakash Iyer, Managing Director, Infomedia India Ltd, said, “We are delighted to be Reed’s publishing partners in India. With Infomedia’s local industry insights and Reed’s global expertise, we are hoping to provide Indian businesses with high-quality content in magazines that become mandatory reading.”

Reed Business Information is the world’s largest B2B publishing unit with revenue of $2.3 billion and operating profits of $400 million. It offers business professionals in media, manufacturing, electronics, construction and retail industries more than 100 market-leading business-to-business publications, 75 webzines and web portals, custom publishing, directories, research and direct-marketing lists.

Reed’s portfolio includes titles such as Variety, JCK, Control Engineering and Logistics Management. This JV will bring the titles from Reed Business Information to India.

With Infomedia, a major Indian publishing company, forming a JV with Reed Business Information, one more company has apparently gone off the block for possible equity partnership with an international publishing company.

In the magazine publishing arena in India, CyberMedia and Jasubhai group are yet to enter into any equity-based relationship with any international publisher.

Major publishing players like the Times of India and Hindustan Times have already entered into equity relationships, while a few more like India Today, Outlook and NextGen publishing companies have established licensing relationships with international companies.

A company like India Today does not appear to be too keen to get into any equity relationship as its own cash flow and brand identity are very strong in the Indian markets.

Whereas, companies like Jasubhai Media are not exciting partners because of their failed licensing relationships in the past.

(Chronosphere offers consultancy services in identifying the right partners as well as strategic advice on how to gain an entry into the Indian marketplace. Contact Bhupesh Trivedi at publisher@chronosphere.biz).

Magazine publishing major India Today group has exited radio, while BBC Worldwide Holdings has invested Rs 318 million in Radio Mid Day West (India) Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Mid Day Multimedia Ltd.

In India, almost all of the major radio stations are owned by publishing companies and these are the first two major international equity deals in radio space, ever since the radio sector was opened up for foreign investment by the Indian government.

India Today sold off its Red FM radio brand to a consortium of business groups including NDTV and Malaysia-based Astro.

On its deal, Mid Day Multimedia informed the Bombay stock exchange that, “This (investment) is as per the Regulatory Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the FIPB permission received from the Ministry of Finance.”

The company further said that these funds would be utilised by Radio Mid Day to bid for licenses under Phase II of the Private FM Radio Broadcasting Policy announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Infomedia will acquire 100 per cent stake from the promoters of Keyword Group. Keyword currently owns 49 per cent stake in Cepha Imaging Systems, a Bangalore-based firm. As part of the deal, Infomedia will acquire a further 21 per cent stake in Cepha from the local promoters, which will progressively be increased to 100 per cent in the next two years.

The value of the deals, which are subject to necessary approvals, is estimated to be about US $ 7 million.

Prakash Iyer, Managing Director, Infomedia India, said, “Keyword’s strong customer connect and Cepha’s track record of consistently delivering quality and exceeding customer expectations will help us consolidate our position in the booming $250 million publishing BPO market in India. We will now have a potent combination of a customer-facing front-end in Europe, and a world class facility in India.”

The publishing BPO business was clocking an annual growth of 30 per cent in India with profit margins, which varied between 30 per cent and 40 per cent, sources added.

Indian publishing BPO industry is currently focusing on the US and UK markets. India with several advantages like trained professionals, proficiency in English and favourable time zone is expected to emerge as one of the main outsourcing centres for the developed world.

DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd and ICICI Securities Ltd have been appointed as lead managers for the public issue.

The public issue will constitute 20 per cent of the fully diluted post-issue equity share capital of the company, assuming that the green-shoe option is not exercised and 22.33 per cent assuming that the option is exercised in full. The total capital to be raised from the initial issue is pegged at around Rs 3 billion.

The Irish media house, Independent Newspaper & Media Plc, holds 26 per cent in Jagran Prakashan Pvt Ltd, which it acquired early this year for Rs 1.5 billion.

The group is expected to use the funds from the IPO to upgrade printing facilities and finance new business plans in outdoor media advertising, and event management, including mobile advertising targetted towards rural India.

‘Maalai Malar’ is the largest read evening daily across the country, as per Indian Readership Survey (R2, 2005). Its 1.4-million strong readership is explained by a net paid sales of around 125,000 copies across the state, 40 per cent of which are estimated to be in Chennai.

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