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Four months. Three deals. That's the scorecard for the Rupert Murdoch-led News Corp in India's digital space. If you include two deals by another Murdoch-owned entity, STAR India, it becomes five deals in four months.
"They are getting aggressive on businesses in the digital space, cross investments. They are not looking to invest in traditional media players, but ones which are using digital technology and information," says the chief executive officer of a firm who has been closely tracking News Corp's digital investment strategy.
On Monday, News Corp announced its acquisition of media firm VCCircle Network. In November 2014, it had picked up a 25 per cent stake in realty portal PropTiger for $30 million. In December 2014, it bought Big Decisions, a financial education and analytics site, for an undisclosed sum.
"Instead of a large acquisition, it is likely to make smaller bets which have a natural fit with its businesses or global digital play," said the person cited above. Raju Narisetti, News Corp's senior vice-president, strategy, did not respond to an emailed questionnaire.
According to experts, these acquisitions fit into News Corp's global strategy. Take VCCircle, for instance. It covers private equity and venture capital news, besides capturing data for these deals. As huge money is flowing into start-ups and e-commerce, News Corp could increase coverage of these areas.
Besides, VCCircle has linkages with Dow Jones VentureSource, a database on venture capital and Dow Jones VentureWire, a platform for venture capital and start-up news. In India, these don't have much presence, and VCCircle provides a natural fit for News Corp. Big Decisions is seen as a content-plus intermediation play, as it is expected to eventually become a financial services company.
"We see a big digital opportunity in India, where digital use is booming and demographics are favourable, and this is the first stage of that," Narisetti had said after the PropTiger deal. "I would look at it as the beginning of several things we would do in the future."
"We are patient, long-term, strategic investors who want Indian entrepreneurs (to) build successful digital brands for India and beyond," he had said in an email interview.
If one looks at the three investments that News Corp has made in India - PropTiger, BigDecisions, and VCCircle - there's a common thread. News Corp is betting on entrepreneurs with mature ideas in the digital space, who can scale. The investments in India are in line with News Corp's digital bets globally and also in sync with the investments being made by other Murdoch-controlled companies in India. In December 2013, News Corp bought Storyful, an Ireland-based social media news agency that discovers and verifies videos and user-generated content for its partners, for $25 million.
In April 2014, News Corp bought out The Handpicked Collection, a luxury online retailer in the UK, which sells a selected range of expertly sourced products. The company expects this strategic initiative, which will leverage the group's publications in the UK, to help it strengthen its bond with its readers and take the advantage of the growth in e-commerce.
In September 2014, the New York-headquartered company acquired Move, which operates realtor.com, which displays 98 per cent of for-sale properties in the US. Melbourne-based REA Group Ltd, 61.6 per cent owned by News Corp, owns realestate.com.au, the largest player in Australia, and has invested in property portals in 10 countries, including the UK.
"The investment in PropTiger fits in well with the News Corp Group's real estate portfolio, while VCCircle is being seen as content play. News Corp is making a soft entry into the content business as foreign direct investment is still barred in mainstream (print media)," said an angel investor.
STAR India, a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, bought Screen, a 64-year-old film weekly magazine from The Indian Express last Monday.
"The Screen acquisition will yield huge benefits for Star India and for HotStar - our digital platform," Uday Shankar, CEO of STAR India, had said on Monday.
In February, STAR India bought the broadcast business of MAA Television Network for an estimated Rs 2,500 crore. "News Corp is a great investor to have onboard as they bring in a lot of expertise in technology, product and content," says Dhruv Agarwala, co-founder, PropTiger, one of the investee companies.
