Kasturi and Sons Ltd are believed to be in talks to sell a minority stake to Australia's Fairfax Media Ltd, the Mint paper said on Wednesday, citing sources close to the Indian firm. The paper cited sources close to Kasturi shareholders as saying discussions were on to sell a stake.
Under Indian law, the maximum foreign holding permissible is a stake of up to 26 percent. The family-owned Indian company, which publishes newspapers and magazines, could be valued at 26 billion rupees to 28 billion rupees ($650-$700 million), the paper said, citing analysts.
"These are speculations," the paper cited Kasturi's Joint Managing Director N. Murali as saying. There are "no plans to make an investment in The Hindu Group", the Mint quoted Frank Sufferini, an executive for investor relations at Fairfax, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald.
Rising incomes and growing literacy are boosting revenues and readership of newspapers in India. Revenues for the print media have grown at an average rate of 15 percent in the last four years, according to estimates by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
