A day after the media reported details of Samir Jain and Vineet Jain splitting the Times Group business, the group released a statement internally to its key management calling the speculations incorrect.

The communication from BCCL’s Company Secretary Kausik Nath read: “As the KMP of the company, it is my duty to inform that employees should not go by speculation in the media about the reorganization of the company. Please be notified that social media has been speculative and incorrect.”

As per media reports, Samir Jain is likely to get hold of the entire Print businesses of the conglomerate and Vineet Jain is expected to occupy Broadcast, Radio Mirchi, Entertainment (ENIL), and other businesses.

Vineet Jain, the younger of the Jain brothers who inherited the Times Group after the death of their mother Indu Jain, will now be handling the TV, digital and entertainment business of the media conglomerate.

Born in Kolkata in 1964 to Ashok and Indu Jain, the 59-year-old Vineet joined the Times Group in 1987, more than a decade after his elder brother Samir Jain entered the business.

A graduate of the American College of Switzerland, Vineet was soon the Managing Director of  Bennett, Coleman & CO, which was at that time being run by his father Ashok Jain and brother Samir, who was the Vice Chairman of the company.

Vineet has been the driving force behind the diversification and expansion of what began as a traditional publishing business under the flagship Times of India. Under his vision and leadership, the Times Group expanded its wings across the media spectrum – be it internet, radio, music, news television, OTT,  or out-of-home.

He was named Impact Person of the Year in 2013.

With this development, after 36 years of his stint as the MD of Times Group, Vineet will occupy Broadcast, Radio Mirchi, Entertainment (ENIL), and other businesses such as Filmfare, Femina, their event IPs along with their respective online editions (clubbed under Times Internet Ltd).

Vineet will also retain ET Money and the OTT platform MX Player, broadcast, digital and entertainment part of the business. 

His elder brother Samir holds the entire Print business of the conglomerate like Times of India, Economic Times, and language papers like Navbharat Times and Vijay Karnataka along with their online editions. 

When warring brothers Samir and Vineet Jain finalized the historic partition of one of India’s largest media conglomerates - Times Group-in Delhi by signing an MoU on Thursday, only three men were present on the occasion.

They were - Puneet Dalmia of Dalmia Bharat, Subramanian Narayanan and Sivakumar Sundaram, both top executives of BCCL - who are believed to have helped Samir and Vineet Jain to part ways amicably.

The trio can be seen along with Jain brothers in the picture taken during the signing of MoU. 

These leaders, along with a couple of more top biz leaders of India, are credited with shaping up a complex deal and carving out the partition in two equal halves smoothly, something that was acceptable to Samir and Vineet Jain both. 

Exchange4media was the first to report about the MOU’s details along with an exclusive picture earlier on Saturday.

Puneet Dalmia (50), Managing Director at Dalmia Bharat Limited, helped them in coordination and detailing of the negotiations. A gold-medallist MBA from the Indian IIM-B, and a B. Tech. degree from IIT-Delhi, Puneet is considered as one of the finest business leaders in India with an expertise in investment, merger and acquisition. He is admired by both the brothers.

Subramanian Narayanan, Executive Director & Group CFO. at Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL), who also spearheads merger and acquisition for the group, has been a trusted aide of Vineet Jain for many years. According to Times group insiders, Narayanan has got excellent negotiation skills and has played a crucial role in getting the best deal for Vineet Jain.

Sivakumar Sundaram, Chairman Executive Committee, BCCL, remained part of the negotiations throughout. Sundaram, believed to be from Samir Jain’s side, was present at the time of signing the MoU as well. Sundaram played a key role in shaping up the partition and getting the lion’s share for Samir-entire print portfolio along with online editions, insiders say. Newspapers have been the flagship business of the group, especially Times of India that started 180-years ago, much before the partition of India.

The deal

As per the deal, Samir Jain is going to get a hold of entire Print businesses of the conglomerate along with their online editions.

Vineet Jain will occupy Broadcast, Radio Mirchi, OTT platform MX Player, Entertainment (ENIL), and other businesses such as Filmfare and Femina, people privy to the matter told e4m. Besides, Vineet will receive a cash payout of at least Rs 3,500 Cr from his elder brother to balance out the partition.

“The real estate belonging to the company, which includes various properties and printing press across India, have also been valued and will be divided equally between the two brothers”, people privy to the matter said.

Repeated emails sent to Samir and Vineet Jain and the group’s corporate communications personnel remained unanswered till the time of writing this story.

Photo Caption: L to R Vineet Jain (Blue shirt), Samir Jain (White shirt) on chairs signing the MoU.

Behind: N. Subramaniam (Subbu, yellow shirt), Puneet Dalmia (violet shirt) and Sivakumar Sundaram (pink shirt)

The much-awaited MoU of the Times Group is believed to have been finalized on Thursday. Once the deal is finalised Samir Jain is likely to get hold of the entire Print businesses of the conglomerate, including the Times of India, Economic Times and language papers like Navbharat Times and Vijay Karnataka along with their online editions. 

Younger brother Vineet Jain is expected to occupy Broadcast, Radio Mirchi, Entertainment (ENIL), and other businesses such as Filmfare, Femina, the event IPs along with their respective online editions (clubbed under Times Internet Ltd.), highly placed sources have told e4m. Vineet will also retain ET Money and the OTT platform MX Player. 

At present, all online editions along with MX Player are part of the Times Internet Limited, which was a major bone of contention between the Jain brothers. 

Sources add that since the Print businesses of the group are far bigger in terms of revenue, Vineet is likely to receive a cash payout of at least Rs 3,500 crore from his elder brother to balance out the partition. This amount may go up to Rs 5,000 crore depending on various factors.

“The bifurcation of the Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) conglomerate was fine tuned on Thursday at the Lutyens bungalow of the Jain brothers in Delhi. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed by the duo, followed by a family puja and brothers roping a plant together to signal a fresh beginning,” sources said. 

The MoU needs to be converted into a legal document and top law firm Khaitan & Co is believed to be taking care of the legal technicalities. 

“The real estate belonging to the company, which includes various properties and printing press across India, have also been valued and are expected to be divided equally between the two brothers,” people privy to the matter said. 

Repeated emails sent to Samir and Vineet Jain and the group’s corporate communications personnel remained unanswered till the time of writing this story. 

Times Group officials said on the condition of anonymity that Samir was already handling the print business and Vineet was running TV, Radio and Times Internet. 

University & Investment Arm to be valued later

While most of the entities at Bennett University will be put in an independent trust, it would be run by professional trustees and is believed to be valued later. 

Brand Capital, the strategic investment arm of the Times Group, has not been valued yet. It will too likely be valued and bifurcated later. 

Investors to be roped in 

Samir is believed to have started looking for funds to finance the partition, so that he can pay his younger brother his dues worth Rs 3,500 crore. Both brothers may also rope in more investors for their respective entities, sources said. 

Merger of 5 entities 

The BCCL is also merging five of its subsidiaries - Mind Games Shows Pvt (MGSPL), Ananta Properties Pvt (APPL), Amrita Estates Pvt (AEPL), Times Digital (TDL), Times Journal (TJIL) and Vinabella Media and Entertainment Pvt (VMEPL) - with itself as part of its plan to clean up the company's structure, in accordance with a National Company Law Tribunal order. The NCLT cleared the merger on May 4, effective April 2021. 

Tedious process of partition  

India’s oldest and one of the most influential media companies Times Group (Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd or BCCL) has been facing uncertainty for a long time due to growing differences between the brothers on how to run the businesses. The talks of spilt were going on for about two years. 

Samir is elder to Vineet by 10 years and serves as the vice chairman of BCCL, while Vineet is the managing director. Jain brothers are reportedly distinct from each other when it comes to business acumen, lifestyle and vision for the company. 

People privy to the matter claim that assets of the company underwent an elaborate evaluation process to divide over 70 entities, including the most complex one, Times Internet Ltd (TIL). 

Two mediators were appointed to oversee this auction. This included Sunil Bharti Mittal, the billionaire chairman of telecoms operator Bharti Airtel, and a member of the Dalmia family, which owned BCCL in the 1950s before handing the company over to the Jains. 

Selling of businesses

TIL has been working hard over the past two years to consolidate its business and offload the loss-making entities. 

The company sold the restaurant reservations app Dineout as well as short video platform MX TakaTak in early 2022. It recently sold two of its content websites—MensXP and iDiva—and its creator management vertical Hypp to Mensa Brands. 

It is in the process of selling OTT platform MX Player also which has reportedly been punching a hole in their coffers. The company is now in the talks with Amazon to sell it off at a price which is reportedly less than its acquisition cost. 

Times Internet acquired MX Player in 2018 for an estimated sum of $140 million or Rs 1,000 Cr. “Amazon has offered roughly $60 million, almost half of its purchasing cost,” sources claimed. This is despite the fact that MX Player has been regarded as the most downloaded app in India and third most downloaded in the world in 2022, according to the State of Mobile 2023 report by Data.ai. 

The company’s arm Gradeup has already been merged with Byju’s through NCLT approval, its financial report stated. 

According to media reports, Times Internet has also undergone a shareholding change and stakes held by different Times Group entities and family members were all transferred to BCCL in 2021-22.

Print advertising posted a strong year-on-year growth of 27% for FY2023 and 16% for Q4 FY2023, said DB Corp Limited, which posted its financial results for the quarter and the year ended March 31, 2023.

The company’s rise in revenue was helped by strong demand for its print publication and higher growth in advertising income.

The print media company’s consolidated EBIDTA posted strong growth of 34% y-o-y in the fourth quarter.

Compared to FY2022, advertising revenue for the group grew by 25.4% to Rs 1482.7 crore as against Rs 1182.7 crore in FY2023. Total Revenue grew by around 21.2% to Rs. 2168.2 crore as against Rs. 1788.5 crore. Circulation Revenue grew by around 1.5% to Rs. 462.7 crore as against Rs. 455.8 crore.

 EBIDTA grew by 12% to Rs. 361.1 crore as against Rs. 322.8 crore, after considering a forex loss of Rs 5.2 crore, aided by stringent cost control measures, & despite high newsprint prices and large digital business investment for future growth. Net Profit grew 19% to Rs. 169.1 crore as against Rs. 142.6 crore, after considering forex loss of Rs 60 crore.

In the radio business, advertising Revenue grew 20% to Rs. 134.2 crore versus Rs. 112.2 crore. EBITDA grew by 28% to Rs. 40.2 crore (EBITDA margin at 30%) versus Rs. 31.4 crore.

As compared to Q4 of FY2022, the corresponding quarter of this financial year say ad revenue grow by 14.2 % to Rs. 357.8 crore as against Rs. 3,13.4 crore. Total Revenue grew by 13.5% at Rs. 5,44.6 crore as against Rs. 4,79.9 crore. Circulation Revenue stands at Rs. 1,15.3 crore as against Rs. 1,15.2 crore. EBIDTA grew by 34% to Rs. 88.9 crore as against Rs. 66.3 crore aided by stringent cost control measures, & despite high newsprint prices and large digital business investment for future growth. Net Profit grew by 67% at Rs. 41 crore as against Rs. 24.5 crore. Radio business: Ø Advertising Revenue grew by 6% YOY at Rs. 32.2 crore versus Rs.30,3 crore. EBIDTA stands at Rs.8.4 crore versus Rs. 8.2 crore.  

Sudhir Agarwal, Managing Director, DB Corp Ltd said, “While other major economies around the world faced a tough year, the Indian Economy, especially the nonMetro centres, showed great resilience in fiscal 2023. GST Collections in Tier-II and beyond cites have increased by ~15-25% underscoring the strong potential of these markets. Advertisers continue to repose their trust in Print Media, especially in these markets, with new age advertisers also seeing tremendous value in using hyperlocal ad campaigns. Dainik Bhaskar’s editorial strategies and dominant position in these markets has resulted in strong growth of advertising revenues across the board. Our circulation strategy has enabled us to extend our lead as India’s number one Newspaper and Newspaper Group. Our readers are the central focus of all our teams, and we continue to innovate our content, improve our omnichannel platform for delivering truthful, crisp and pertinent content to our loyal reader base. With our strong financial position, we are well-placed to continue the growth trajectory and deliver robust returns to all our stakeholders.”

DB Corp Ltd publishes 5 newspapers with Dainik Bhaskar 43 editions, Divya Bhaskar 8 editions & Divya Marathi 6 editions with 211 sub-editions in 3 multiple languages (Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi) across 12 states in India.

The Indian startup ecosystem witnessed countless ups and downs in the past year, in regard to cost-cutting, restricting and mass layoffs. However, numerous young entrepreneurs stood strong, breaking the barriers by generating revenues and creating an impact on a large scale in the industry.

In the latest edition of BW Businessworld, the issue exhibits the 8^th Annual BW Disrupt YEA (Young Entrepreneur & Enterprise Awards) special. A multi-layered process of screening was followed for culminating the final outcome. In this segment, entrepreneurs and enterprises from numerous industries such as beauty & personal care, apparel, logistics, food, health tech, fintech, e-commerce and social enterprises filed their nominations. The elite list was unveiled in a gala ceremony, honouring the 15 leaders of tomorrow, for their commendable analytical methods and management. 

The Jury Panel 2023 

The 8^th Annual BW Disrupt YEA jury comprised of industry leaders. The jurors panel list included of Ankit Agrawal, Director – Venture Debt, Lighthouse Canton; Sambit Dash, Partner, RPSG Capital Ventures; Bala C. Deshpande, Founder & Partner, MegaDelta Capital; Arpit Agarwal, Director, Blume Ventures; Ninad Kapre, Partner, 100X.VC; Ankit Kedia, Founder, Capital A; Uma Shankar Bhardwaj, Founder & CEO, iAvatarZ Digital and Aditya Prakash Gupta, Partner, GEMs. 

Rising Stars of the Future

The cover of the page of BW Businessworld unveils the 15 most talented entrepreneurs such as Aakriti Rawal, Co-founder & CEO, House of Chikankari; Ajay Lakhotia, Founder & CEO, StockGro; Ankit Fatehpuria, Founder, Zetwerk Manufacturing; Bharat Bansal, Co-founder & CEO, Nirmalaya Wellness; Divij Bajaj, Founder & CEO, Power Gummies; Preet Pal Thakur, Co-founder, Glamyo Health; Kartik Hajela, Co-founder & COO, Log9 Materials; Kishan Karunakaran, CEO, Buyofuel; Pallavi Shrivastava, Co-founder & Director, Pragcap; Parul Sharma, Founder & CEO, Gladful Foods; Pranav Bajaj, Co-founder, Medulance; Sandeep Devgan, Chief Executive Officer, Stonefield Flavours; Saurabh Kumar Agarwal, Founder & CTO, Reshamandi; Shobhit Rai, Director & Co-founder, Prozeal Infra Engineering and Vivek Singh, Co-founder & CEO, Anveya Living. 

Scrutinisation of the Barometer 

A multidisciplinary process had been adapted for determining the closing results. The first phase included of a screening with over 150 entries across various sectors and constituted of diverse business models. In the second phase, 50 nominees were shortlisted and elicited to present before the esteemed jury. 

The nominations were critically evaluated on parameters like founder’s vision, market size, financial growth, the scope of social impact and the long-term goal potential it holds. One of the crucial aspects for the nominations was determining the young entrepreneurs being under the age of 35 and the enterprises being seven years or younger to their respective industries. Moreover, a larger emphasis was on the startup sector, scrutinizing the best of the industry leaders. 

Journey To Victory 

In conversation with BW Businessworld, Aakriti Agrawal, Co-founder & CEO, House of Chikankari stated, “Looking ahead, we remain committed to our growth and expansion plans. We are focused on enhancing customer digitizing our operations and leveraging social media for customer engagement. Finally, we built resilience by diversifying into menswear and exploring new markets”. On the other hand, the tough times faced for growing businesses, Vivek Singh, Co-founder & CEO, Anveya Living voiced, “While things could have been easier at another time, I believe that companies born and built in tougher times are more resilient and built to win in the long run.” 

Talking about future plans and goals, Divij Bajaj, Founder & CEO, Power Gummies, tells BW Businessworld, “In 2023, we plan to launch kids’ gummies and new variants in generic wellness, expand our product line to reach a new audience and tap into a growing market segment” whereas Bharat Bansal, Co-founder & CEO, Nirmalaya Wellness states, “We are projecting a three-four times growth in 2023. Now, our focus is on growing our operation across India and on exports. We are launching in the US and after that, we will expand to five or more countries. 

On the note of emergency healthcare sector, Preet Pal Thakur, Co-founder, Glamyo Health said, “We focus on solving the real pain points for the patients, added new verticals like dental, which is a blue ocean market and tightened its grip on costs with a focus on profitable growth”. On the other hand, Pranav Bajaj, Co-founder, Medulance states, “We believe that assistance should be provided when it matters the most. We are committed to building sustainable and high-impact businesses.” 

The F&B industry is a competitive market. Talking about different aspects in the pre and post-pandemic times, Sandeep Devgan, CEO, Stonefield Flavours explains, “We have been successful because we embraced change quickly, especially during the pandemic. We had one of the best years in 2022-23. We stayed true to our vision of inspiring change and delighting others”. However, Parul Sharma, Founder & CEO, Gladful Foods states, “Gladful’s vision was to solve India’s protein and other nutritional deficiencies. We are quick to change based solely on consumer feedback. We touch base with over 20,000 consumers monthly through WhatsApp, emails and phone calls.” 

Moving on to the fintech industry, Ajay Lakhotia, Founder & CEO, StockGro mentions, “Our brand campaigns have been super sharp in their messaging and reaching the target audience through social media. We have doubled down on our offline initiatives and on-ground engagement”. Pallavi Shrivastava, Co-founder & Director, Progcap states, “Despite facing turbulence, our continued focus remains on growing our people and customers”. 

Sharing the company’s goal, Kartik Hajela, Co-founder & COO, Log9 Materials, states, “The vision of making India self-reliant in energy demands higher capital to set up bigger cell factories, for which we are soon starting our next round, which will be much bigger than the last one and will primarily be used to set up higher cell manufacturing lines in India” whereas Kishan Karunakaran, CEO, Buyofuel shares his goal stating, “In 2023, it will continue to make sizable investments in integrating artificial intelligence, blockchain & other technologies.” 

On the growing business, Shobhit Rai, Director & Co-founder, Prozeal Infra Engg., discloses, “In terms of business growth trajectory, the company has been doubling its scale year-on-year and FY 2022-23 is no different. We have not only achieved our revenue targets but also our EBITDA numbers, which are more critical to keep the company bankable”. On the other hand, Saurabh Kumar Agarwal, Founder & CTO, “Reshamandi is inclined towards building relations. He said, “Trust is intrinsic to every relationship and Reshamandi stands true to its tagline, ‘relationships matter’. We strengthened it by putting more trust in our growth is a clear indicator of that”. On the concluding note, Ankit Fatehpuria, Co-founder, Zetwerk Manufacturing expresses his goal for 2023 stating, “Zetwerk will bring significant demand for manufacturing to India, and in the process, make real editions to the country’s gross domestic product and growth.” 

This issue of BW Businessworld proudly presents one of the finest minds of India, Harvard Professor Tarun Khanna writing on ‘entrepreneurship as a state of mind’. This issue also features an interview with ‘The Art of Living Founder’, Sri Sri Ravi Sharkar. 

Click here to view the complete list of BW Businessworld India’s Hottest Young Entrepreneurs 2023.