Tusk Investment, Mauritius, a wholly owned subsidiary of private equity firm Elephant Capital, has sought approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to acquire a 30 per cent stake in Amar Chitra Katha Pvt Ltd (ACK).
Under the agreement, Tusk Investments will subscribe to 90,000 shares in the media house, which amounts to 29.81 per cent of the paid-up capital of ACK.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has no objection to the proposal, subject to a certification from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that the activities of ACK are covered under the provision on publishing of speciality or scientific magazines.
Under existing policy, foreign direct investment up to 100 per cent is permitted only for publishing speciality and scientific magazines. Once the ministry endorses ACK's products as being published under this segment, Tusk Investments can proceed with its plans.
ACK is the publisher of the country's largest selling comic book series, Amar Chitra Katha. Since its launch in 1967, Amar Chitra Katha has sold 90 million copies in more than 20 languages.
The imprint has more than 400 titles that retell stories from Indian epics, mythology, history, folklore, and fables in a comic book format.
It was created by Anant Pai and published by India Book House. In 2007, the imprint and all its titles were acquired by a new venture called ACK Media. On September 17, 2008, a website by ACK-media was also launched
Apart from publication of pictorial magazines and comic books, ACK is into the production of audio and video-animated content.
