Times of India IPO: Bennett Coleman IPO

The Indian IPO markets are going to witness another big IPO. The famous print media company is planning an IPO or Initial Public Offering.


Though there are no officials quoting any fixed dates and plans, but they claim that all is in the pipeline. We may see a TOI IPO by the end of this year.
And that’s not all. There is also a possibility that the company, with a profit of Rs 1,200 crore, could go for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

Backed by the largest circulation of the largest selling general English daily The Times of India and the largest selling financial daily The Economic Times will have to offer at least 10 per cent of its equity, the minimum required for an IPO.
As per BS, According to Times Group insiders, internal valuations peg the company at up to $30 billion (Rs 1,20,000 crore), while media analysts said that would be ambitious pricing since revenue is only $1.1 billion, and profit $0.3 billion.

The publishers of Hindustan Times, Deccan Chronicle, Dainik Jagran and Sandesh have gone public in the last few years, while Eenadu has recently raised private equity.

The publishers of The Hindu are reported to be negotiating with private equity investors, while Indian Express has talked of wanting to go public. Dainik Bhaskar has also been raising private equity to finance its expansion into Gujarati and English titles, and its promoters have frequently talked of wanting to go public.
Market Experts claim that the reason for company going public is due to the rising competition in retention of the employees. When the competitor media companies are offering lucrative Employee Stock Option Plans, TOI seems to be a bit lagging in employee retention. Listing on the stock markets will enable them to offer ESOPs, which will help in employee retention.
A listing on the New York Stock Exchange could open up opportunities abroad. Other than half a dozen daily newspapers, Bennett, Coleman runs a magazines business in a joint venture with the BBC, FM radio stations under the Radio Mirchi brand name and two television channels, Times NOW and Zoom.

Let’s see how this TOI IPO performs in the markets, once it opens up.

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