Adani Group acquires majority stake in IANS

Billionaire Gautam Adani's group has expanded its media footprint with the third acquisition in a year.

After buying controlling stakes in Quintillion Business Media and NDTV, the media arm of Adani Group has acquired a majority stake in news agency IANS India Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed sum.

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 per cent stake constituting equity shares of IANS India Pvt Ltd." The company did not disclose the acquisition price.

Adani had forayed into media business in March last year when it acquired Quintillion Business Media, which operates business and financial news digital media platform BQ Prime. It thereafter in December took nearly 65 per cent stake in broadcaster NDTV. AMNL was the vehicle for these acquisitions as well.

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.

"Pursuant to the acquisition as set out above, IANS is now a subsidiary of AMNL."

A first-generation entrepreneur, Adani started off as a commodities trader in 1988 and expanded his business interests to become India's largest private player in infrastructure, with 13 ports and eight airports. Over the years it diversified into producing coal, energy distribution, data centres and more recently into cement and copper. It even bid and acquired 5G telecom spectrum to set up a private network.

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