The Express group is considering a Rs 100 crore initial public offering.
The promoters of Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) are expected to list the company on the stock exchanges in the next four months.
The Express group seems to be looking at a Rs 100 crore initial public offering, but company CEO and editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta said the size of the issue had not yet been decided.
Gupta confirmed that the Express group had "in principle decided to go in for an IPO", but said no decision had been taken on the merchant bankers or the schedule.
"We have had meetings with merchant bankers and are in the process of taking a view," he said over the telephone from New Delhi, adding that it could take up to four months for the IPO to hit the market. Gupta refused to comment on the purposes for which the money raised would be used.
The Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) publishes The Indian Express and The Financial Express in English, apart from the Marathi daily Loksatta and several speciality trade magazines.
Media industry sources suggest that the Express group is planning to strengthen its presence in the language market and is bolstering its marketing network.
The newspaper industry is suddenly caught in frenetic activity. The government has allowed 26 per cent foreign direct investment in the print media, some print media companies are launching editions in new markets while others are readying to face fiercer competition on their home ground.
The Hyderabad-based Deccan Chronicle, for example, is planning a foray into Tamil Nadu and floated a successful Rs 130 crore IPO in November-December 2004.
Some studies have suggested that the Indian newspaper industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.9 per cent for the next five years and that its turnover will be Rs 10,000 crore by 2008. In 2003, the value of the newspaper market--the national, regional and language newspapers--was estimated at roughly Rs 7,000 crore.