Jagran Prakashan Acquires Radio City and Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd
Riding the Wave With the Radio Star: Jagran Prakashan Acquires Radio City and Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd
Jagran Prakashan Ltd has announced on Tuesday, 16th December 2014 that it will now be entering the radio industry through the purchase of Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd. This deal’s value has not been disclosed but it is estimated by media sources to be close to INR 500 crore.
Radio City Awakens With Jagran Group
Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd which runs the 20 radio stations in 7 states under the brand Radio City will now be under the ownership of the established Jagran Prakashan Ltd. Music Broadcast’s 2013-2014 revenues add up to INR 161.8 crore and the company showed a 28% increase in advertisement revenues in the first half of 2014-2015. But with the new ownership, it could lead to more achievements especially in the Indian heartlands.
Jargan Rises to the Challenge
“Jagran Prakashan has entered into an agreement to acquire Radio City 91.1 FM, subject to the approval of the ministry of information and broadcasting,” said Apurva Purohit, CEO of Radio City 91.1 FM. “This augurs well for all the stakeholders. Both Jagran and Radio City have been pioneers and leaders in their respective space and this partnership will help augment the growth aspirations of the brand.”
The radio business has experienced significant growth in the past years and it will grow at 18% CAGR in the coming years, as per the KPMG Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry report.
“This deal will catapult JPL (Jagran Prakashan) into a leadership position in the radio industry and enable the company to benefit from the rapid growth in radio advertising,” MD and Chairman Mahendra Mohan Gupta said. “The radio business will complement our print, outdoor, activation and digital business, and enable deeper inroads with advertisers both at national and local level.” The funding from the acquisition will come form internal accruals and investments, according to the firm.
About Jagran Prakashan
Jagran Prakashan Limited/JPL is a media and communications group which has interests in newspapers, outdoor advertising, magazines, promotional marketing, digital businesses and event management.
The group publishes around 12 news media brands and the group is now looking to expand to new media channels including radio, with an eye on advertising revenue according to media reports. Shri Puran Multimedia Ltd operating currently under the subsidiary of Jagran Prakashan runs a FM Radio station under the Radio Mantra brand.
But with this new acquisition, JPL is expanding into a new direction. Many massive national advertisers have commenced using radio as a stand alone platform indicating increased acceptability of the medium.
