Mauritius-based fund, Cliffrose Investment, is set to acquire 7.14 per cent stake in Writers & Publishers Ltd (Bhaskar Group) for Rs 150 crore (USD 33.3 mn). The investment proposal has been approved by the federal government's Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

Cliffrose would buy 76,305 fully paid up equity shares in WPL on a preferential basis as per the agreement between the two companies, a company press release said.

The release said, "The I&B ministry, in this case, gave a no objection certificate to the proposal, subject to the condition that foreign holding in the company - either directly or indirectly - did not exceed 7.14 per cent and that Cliffrose Investment is not in the adverse list of the RBI."

The present policy allows foreign direct investment of up to 26 per cent through the FIPB route in news and current affairs publications.

As per the same policy, some other conditions imposed by the government are that all key executives and employees of the company would be Indian nationals and that WPL would take prior permission from the ministry before making any changes in its share holding.

Amidst a spate of launches, the market consolidation trend got triggered in the Indian publishing market with Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (The Times of India Group) buying out 100 per cent stake in south-based Vijayanand Printers Ltd (VPL).

VPL publishes the leading Kannada daily Vijaya Karnataka, English daily Vijay Times, and Kannada daily Usha Kirana. The acquisition marks BCCL's entry into the regional language publishing space in the South.

BCCL managing director Vineet Jain said, "This agreement highlights our strong emphasis on the fast-growing regional mindsets. We are committed to going local and further developing strong regional identities so as to provide the best possible value to our new readership and advertiser base."

BCCL's new appointee for the post of President of VPL Chinen Das said, "The role right now is to develop and implement strategy for market dominance; an effective integration of the two groups; and from the revenue point of view, unlocking the value of the acquisition. It's a huge responsibility and challenge, and the expectations from shareholders are very high. I am looking forward to it."

VPL Chairman Vijay Sankeshwar said the group, having sold the media business, would now focus on expanding its logistics venture, besides entering new businesses. "This sale will allow Vijayanand Roadlines Ltd., the promoters of VPL, to focus on major expansion and diversification plans for its logistics business as well as develop other new businesses," he said.