Adani Group, led by billionaire Gautam Adani, has acquired a majority stake in news agency IANS India Pvt Ltd. The acquisition was made through Adani Enterprises, the entity overseeing the group’s media interests. According to a regulatory filing, Adani’s subsidiary, “AMG Media Networks Ltd,” has successfully acquired a 50.50% stake in IANS India Pvt Ltd. The financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed.
Adani’s foray into the media industry began in March last year with the acquisition of Quintillion Business Media, the operator of the business and financial news digital media platform BQ Prime. Later, in December, the group acquired a nearly 65% stake in the broadcaster NDTV. AMNL has been the instrumental vehicle for these strategic media acquisitions.
In a statement, the filing revealed, “AMNL has also signed a shareholders’ agreement with IANS and Sandeep Bamzai, a shareholder of IANS, to record their inter-se rights with respect to IANS.” The regulatory filing further disclosed that IANS reported a revenue of Rs 11.86 crore in the fiscal year 2022-23.
“All operational and management control of IANS will be with AMNL, and AMNL will have the right to appoint all directors of IANS,” the filing stated. As a result of this acquisition, IANS is now officially a subsidiary of AMNL.
Gautam Adani, a first-generation entrepreneur who started as a commodities trader in 1988, has expanded the Adani Group into India’s largest private player in infrastructure, with significant interests in ports, airports, coal production, energy distribution, data centers, and recent ventures into cement, copper, and telecommunications with the acquisition of 5G spectrum for a private network.
