Mumbai:
Financial Times has (FT) has picked up 13.85 per cent
stake in Business Standard (BS) for Rs 14.1 crore. This,
according to David Bell, FT group chairman, is the first
equity investment in an Indian newspaper by a foreign
media investor.
The
eight-member board of BS will now include one representative
of FT. The stake acquisition by FT was mainly fresh
equity and a dilution of a portion of the shareholding
of T.N. Ninan, editor andpPublisher of BS.
FT
said it intends to develop this alliance into a two-way
partnership. FT's alliance with BS in India is a continuation
of its growth strategy in Asia. "We have similar
partnership around the world," Bell said. FT has
deals in Germany, South Africa, Russia, France
and Spain. In France, it has a 100-per cent ownership
in a business paper. In Spain, it has an 80 per cent
stake in a business paper.
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