INM sells interest in Indian firm for €32m

INDEPENDENT News & Media (INM) has further reduced its overall debt by selling its remaining 5.7% interest in Indian media group Jagran Prakashan (JPL) for €32 million.

INM became the first international media group to invest in India’s newspaper market when it spent €28.5m on a 26% stake in JPL in 2005. However, since the middle of last year the Dublin-headquartered newspaper and diversified media group has been steadily reducing its interest in the Asian business as part of its high profile financial restructuring and subsequent debt reduction drive.

Despite its retreat from south Asia, the Irish group has made an impressive aggregate profit on its Indian investment, amassing around €96m through stake sales over the past 12 months.

“While we’ve been crystal clear that our immediate and continuing priorities are on reducing bank debt, achieving and sustaining leverage ratios at significantly lower levels and focusing on growing our market-leading brands in our core markets, it’s fitting to recognise that our five year investment in JPL has been a highly profitable one for us,” said INM chief executive Gavin O’Reilly.

Mr O’Reilly, who will remain on as a director of JPL, said INM hopes to re-enter the potentially lucrative Indian market at some future point.

“At the appropriate time we shall continue to work with JPL and the Gupta family in exploring other ventures in what is undoubtedly one of the most exciting media markets in the world,” he said.

Yesterday’s announcement was largely anticipated. Irish brokers flagged the possibility of a total sell-off in March, when INM sold a 8% of its JPL stake for €42m.