Jagran Prakashan, the publishers of Dainik Jagran, will take over all the print businesses of Mid-Day Multimedia, which publishes the afternoon tabloid Mid-Day, the Hindu Businessline has reported.
According to the agreement announced on Wednesday, a Mid-Day shareholder will get two shares of Jagran for every seven owned in the company. Mid-Day's publication business operated by its arm, Mid-Day Infomedia, comprises the afternoon daily with four editions, Sunday Mid-Day, Gujarati Mid-Day, The Inquilab (an Urdu daily) and the website mid-day.com
The Mid-Day stock surged 18 per cent to close at Rs 33.55, while the Jagran scrip dropped three per cent to Rs 115 on Wednesday.
“By aligning with Jagran, we will be able to pool resources with the largest newspaper group in the country. As the newspaper business will see some significant challenges in the future, we will now be able to access and pool each other's resources,” said Mr Tarique Ansari, Managing Director, Mid-Day.
After the demerger of the publishing business, the listed Mid-Day Multimedia will continue to own its radio business that operates FM stations in seven cities.
