JOIN USJupiter Media and Entertainment Ventures (JMEV) and Express Publications (Madurai) Ltd (EPML), publishers of 'Kannada Prabha', yesterday announced an alliance to jointly pursue media opportunities in various languages.
"Initially, this partnership will cover Jupiter taking equity investments in 'Kannada Prabha', a leading Kannada daily newspaper, subsequently exploring potential opportunities in other languages," a statement by the partners said.
It, however, did not disclose the quantum of stake and the financials involved.
The picking up of stake in 'Kannada Prabha' gives JMEV, which runs regional news channels including Suvarna News 24x7, (Kannada) and Asianet News (Malayalam), a foothold in the print medium.
"This alliance will enable a vast synergy between 'Kannada Prabha' and Suvarna News 24x7, especially in the wide editorial network across Karnataka and product and space marketing," the statement added.
Besides the news space, JMEV has also presence in entertainment segment with Star-Jupiter Entertainment, a joint venture with Star with five general entertainment channels, — Asianet and Asianet Plus (Malayalam), Suvarna (Kannada), Vijay (Tamil) and Sitara (Telugu).
It also has radio brands Best FM and Radio Indigo, and movie production under the Jupiter Entertainment and Indigo Films banners.
Chandrasekhar, better known for launching BPL Mobile and subsequent exit from it with a valuation of about USD 1.2 billion, has been reportedly seeking opportunities in the print media space.
He had also been linked with INX News in 2008, when the newly started news channels by ex-Star CEO Peter Mukherjea and his wife Indrani Mukherjea were looking for buyers.
Even after becoming an independent Rajya Sabha Member about three years back, Chandrasekhar has continued to push his entrepreneurial ventures. He is also the Chairman and CEO of Jupiter Capital, an investment firm with focus on media and entertainment, transportation and infrastructure, aviation, IT and hospitality. PTI RKL MR