After news broadcast company NDTV and digital player Quintillion Business Media, the Adani group-owned AMG Media Networks Ltd (AMVL) has acquired a 50.5% stake in news agency IANS India Private Ltd to further consolidate its presence in the Indian news media landscape.
In a regulatory filing, Adani Enterprises group said its subsidiary AML acquired a 50.5% stake in the New Delhi-based agency for ₹5.1 lakh, news media reports said.
“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 said.
Billionaire Adani entered the media business in March 2022 with the acquisition Quintillion Business Media, which runs digital media platform BQ Prime. The deal did not include news portal thequint.com, Quintype Technologies, the News Minute and Youth Ki Awaaz.
In December 2022, the group acquired majority stakes in NDTV from Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy – triggering a slew of exits of high-profile editors, including Ravish Kumar, from one of India’s oldest private broadcast networks.
According to an agreement signed between AMG Media Networks and IANS shareholder Sandeep Bamzai, the newswire agency’s operations and management will be under the control of the former. AMG Media will be able to appoint all directors to the IANS board of directors.
IANS, or Indo-Asian News Service, was founded in 1986 to serve the Indian diaspora in North America. In the 1970s, it shifted its focus to India and South Asia, becoming a full-fledged wire service. According to the filing, the company reported a turnover of ₹12 crore in FY23, ₹9.4 crore in FY22, and ₹10.3 crore in FY21.
IANS is divided into six business verticals: IANS News Service (English & Hindi), IANS Multimedia, IANS Publishing, IANS Media Consultancy, IANS Software Services, IANS Mobile Services. Each vertical is headed by a distinguished professional with strong domain expertise.
