Virgin Radio Sold To Times of India Publisher For $106 Million
This story was written by Rafat Ali.
Indian media company Bennett, Coleman & Co, owner of Times of India newspaper, has made its biggest international buy: it has bought out UK's Virgin Radio for about $106 million. SMG, the Scottish broadcaster, owner of Virgin Radio, sold the national AM licence and FM London licence to TIML Golden Square, a subsidiary of Bennett Coleman, and Absolute Radio, a radio investor and consultancy backed by Irish property money, reports FT. This is B&C's first international acquisition and its first step towards an ambitious vision of creating a new music entertainment brand for the UK, the story says. This deal may also be one of the largest ever done by an Indian media company outside of India.
But, the brand name will not be part of the sale, as Virgin group objected to it. Bennett Coleman competes with the Hindustan Times group, with which Virgin has a joint venture in India. So, TIML and Absolute will invest about $30 million in rebranding the station, and will use as the multi-format and multiplatform service, with an online music subscription service, online video and mobile apps. History of Virgin Radio is here.
By Rafat Ali