Mumbai: Adani Enterprises Ltd, a key subsidiary of the Adani Group, has announced its intent to acquire the remaining 51% stake in Quintillion Business Media Pvt Ltd, thus securing complete control over the digital business news platform known as BQ Prime.
This decision marks the continuation of the conglomerate's expansion into the media industry.
The acquisition plan was revealed through a stock exchange filing, in which Adani Enterprises reported that its subsidiary, AMG Media Networks Ltd, has received board approval to enter into a binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Quintillion Media Ltd. This agreement will lead to the acquisition of the remaining stake in Quintillion Business Media, solidifying the Adani Group's position within the business and financial news digital media sector.
Quintillion Business Media had initially been one of Adani's initial ventures in the Indian news domain. This comes in line with their subsequent acquisition of a majority stake in NDTV, a prominent broadcasting company, in December of the preceding year.
AMG Media Networks Ltd had previously acquired a 49% stake in Quintillion Business Media Ltd for a sum of Rs 47.84 crore.
The media platform in question, BQ Prime, was originally recognised as Bloomberg Quint, a collaborative effort between the US-based financial news agency Bloomberg Media and Raghav Bahl's Quintillion Media. Bloomberg eventually terminated its partnership with BQ Prime in March of the preceding year.
Upon the successful acquisition, Quintillion Business Media Ltd (QBML) will transition into a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Ltd. However, the financial intricacies of the deal have not been disclosed in the filing.
The Adani Group established AMG Media Networks with the strategic intent to venture into various aspects of media networks, including publishing, advertising, broadcasting, and content distribution across different media channels.
The acquisition process was set in motion when AMG Media Networks and Quintillion Media Ltd (QML) inked a shareholders' agreement in May 2022, initiating the path towards AMG's full ownership of QBML. A significant development in September 2021 saw the appointment of veteran journalist Sanjay Pugalia as the head of Adani Media Ventures, a media-focused arm of AMG Media Networks.
The binding memorandum of understanding delineates the terms of the agreement, inter-se rights and obligations, and other associated matters related to AMG Media Networks' acquisition of the remaining 51% equity shares of Quintillion Business Media Ltd from QML.