In the recent issue of BW Businessworld releasing on June 3, 2023, takes a tour of India’s largest dairy processor and well-renowned household name, Amul. It explores the inflection point of Amul as it carries out its non-dairy food segment and is expected to generate a revenue up to Rs 1,00,000. To understand the vitality of the situation and the growth forward, BW Businessworld team travelled to the Milk Capital of India, Anand which is a home to the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF).

A Movement Of Exclusiveness

In an exclusive conversation with BW Businessworld, Jayen Mehta, the newly appointed managing director of Amul throws light on why the targeted revenue does not seem daunting for the brand. He further explains that since the dairy sector is swiftly becoming more organised, a shift towards the non-dairy food segment is likely to accelerate as consumers today are more health conscious, especially the younger generation. However, beyond the dairy sector, there is an inflection point for Amul as it now seeks to turn into an all-foods company. The various product launches in the past three years in the non-dairy segment and the expansion it reflected, Mehta seems optimistic about Indian consumers’ kitchen items to soon be of the brand, Amul, be it either organic or dairy products.

The latest issue also presents Amul’s past attempts to expand beyond dairy and value-added dairy products and how they collapsed to make a mark in the market. In this issue, BW Businessworld comes across understanding of what will be different this time and what shall we expect from Amul in the near future.

Largely, this issue also explores India’s substantial milk economy dynamic and the government’s thrust to boost milk production and whether it will bring a second White Revolution.

Summer Special Spin-off

The recent issue ‘The Summer Kings’, showcases a special feature on the summer season. We engaged with R.K. Singh, Union Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy, to take stock of India’s preparation to address the rising demand of power this season. For the same, Singh highlights that the growing power demand is the definite indicator of India’s economic growth.

Nonetheless, the issue also features a rapid growth of sunscreens in the Indian market in this scorching heat of the summer, and how new-age brands have been drawn towards the sun protection market as it has become one of the highest and fastest growing in the skincare segment in the country.    

The issue also focuses upon the Indian meteorological department, predicting a hot and oppressive summer to which the team of BW Businessworld spoke to some of India’s biggest air conditioner manufacturers. B. Thiagarajan of Blue Star, Kanwal Jeet Jawa of Daikin, Manish Sharma of Panasonic Life Solutions India, among others, shares their plans to address consumer demand and their marketing playbook to reach out to them. A much weightage is given into smart solutions using AI and IoT based platform to offer comfort and convenience to its customers. 

In addition, this issue captures focus on sustainable architecture as sustainability has become central to everyone today. Special attention has been given to sustainable architecture to understand the practicalities of developing sustainable buildings in India.

Moreover, the latest issue also gives a special focus on building resilience in the era of uncertainty by Tiger Tyagarajan, President & CEO of Genpact, in its ‘Last Word’ column, aiming at what business leaders today need to concentrate on to navigate the current economic challenges. 

Click here to view the entire story of BW Businessworld on ‘India’s Best Kept FMCG Secret’ with Amul along with an additional summer special spin-off.

About BW Businessworld 

BW Businessworld, with its 43 years of legacy, is the fastest growing 360 degree business media house in India. With a network spanning across 23 niche business communities and 10 magazines, BW Businessworld is proud to be entrenched in various verticals in the domestic as well as global business, that organize conferences and forums to facilitate interaction between sectoral business leaders and create a conducive environment for collaboration. All BW issues are also fully digitally covered, including online stories and video stories and eMagazine is also available for every issue.

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.