Zee chief to make UNI a competitive agency

Under attack for his "takeover" of UNI, Zee group chairman Subhash Chandra on Friday said he was only joining other shareholders to bail out the news agency from its financial crisis, which would require an investment of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) in the next two years.

MediaVest, the group's investment arm in the print media, which had bought 51 per cent UNI equity for Rs 32 crore (Rs 320 million), would bring in the additional capital as share money, Chandra said at a press conference in New Delhi.

The recent acquisition of majority shares in UNI by MediaVest has come in for sharp attack from the agency's trade unions as well as the Left parties and has prompted some leading newspapers to give up UNI service.

At pains to dispel the impression that he has "taken over" UNI, on whose board he and three of his nominees have found a place, Chandra nevertheless asserted, "Opposition and criticism not only confirm that we are on the right track but also strengthen our resolve to firmly move ahead."

Outlining his plans for making UNI a "global competitive agency" with India and Asia perspective, he said the agency had several gaps, particularly on technology, marketing and human resources, that needed to be plugged for resurrecting the agency that had been making losses persistently and losing subscribers continuously.

He said in case other shareholders did not subscribe to preferential equity, his group would take the entire lot that would raise his company's holding in the agency to just below 60 per cent.