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New York-headquartered News Corporation has signed a definitive agreement to acquire India’s VCCircle Network for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to close in March.
The VCCircle network includes business news website covering developments in the mergers and acquisition space VCCircle, financial data platform VCCEdge.com, tech startup-focused news portal Techcircle.in and VCCircle Training. The deal also includes premium-content-driven conference business, News Corp said in a statement.
In February, at least three sources told BusinessLine that VCCircle was looking at offloading a majority stake , if not selling the entire stake, with News Corp being one of the companies involved in the talks.
“This important investment is a sign of our faith in India’s future and our enthusiasm for working with and building up emerging talents in the country,” said News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson. “India is an increasingly meaningful part of our portfolio, which is itself increasingly digital and global.”
VCCircle Network is owned by Noida-headquartered Mosaic Media Ventures and has about 100 employees in India.
“For the past decade, we have built a strong franchise with proprietary data, information, content, and networking capabilities around India’s digital business world,” said P.V. Sahad, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of VCCircle Network. “Being a part of News Corp will now allow us to accelerate our already aggressive growth plans.”
Sahad and the management group will become part of News Corp’s India team, the statement said.
News Corp, which has been investing in Indian digital space, had acquired a 25 per cent stake in online residential real estate platform PropTiger.com in November. In December, News Corp acquired BigDecisions.com, which aims to help Indian consumers make financial decisions through interactive, decision-making tools powered by algorithms and data.
News Corp also has a presence across India through its Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins Publishers businesses.
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