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Rediff.com  » Business » Jagran targets Rs 400 cr via public offer

Jagran targets Rs 400 cr via public offer

By Kausik Datta in Mumbai
December 30, 2005 10:48 IST
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Jagran Prakashan Ltd, publisher of the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, plans to raise nearly Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) through its initial public offer.

The IPO, which intends to offer nearly 20 per cent of the post-issue capital, will put the valuation of the company at Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion), the second largest among the listed media companies.

At Thursday's closing rate on the BSE, HT Media, publisher of the Hindustan Times, leads the pack of media companies with a market capitalisation of Rs 2,045 crore (Rs 20.45 billion).

Deccan Chronicles Holdings, which publishes Deccan Chronicle, has market capitalisation of Rs 1,288 crore (Rs 12.88 billion), Mid-day Rs 362.27 crore (Rs 3.62 billion), Sandesh 114.25 crore (Rs 1.14 billion), TV 18 Rs 794.93 crore (Rs 7.95 billion), NDTV Rs 1196.24 crore (Rs 11.96 billion), TV Today Rs 528.67 crore (Rs 5.29 billion).

Mahendra Mohan Gupta, CMD, Jagran Prakashan, declined to comment on the amount to be mopped up through the issue. He said: "We have filed the draft red herring prospectus with the Sebi for a book-built issue. The amount to be mopped up from the market will depend on the price of the issue. All I can say is that the company plans to issue 10,039,020 equity shares for Rs 10 each. The issue will also have a greenshoe option of up to 15.05 lakh (1.5 million) shares."

Jagran, established in 1942, is controlled by the Gupta family and is based in Kanpur. It publishes editions from 25 centres R K Agarwal, Chief Financial Officer said the public shareholding would be 20 per cent, post issue.

The shareholding of the Gupta family, the promoters, would be around 59 per cent from the present 74 per cent while Independent News & Media Plc's holding would come down to 20 per cent from the current 26 per cent.

If the greenshoe option is fully exercised, promoters' stake would be further reduced to 58 per cent and the public shareholding would go up to 22 per cent.

Gupta said the company would spend over Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) to finance its capital expendtiure and expansion plans. Of this, the company would set aside Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million) for investment in other publications.

"We intend to be a strategic investor in some media companies and want to take part in their growth, " he added. The company also planned to launch a second paper in its area of strength, he added.
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Kausik Datta in Mumbai
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