Amar Ujala among the highest bidders

The fate of Prabhat Khabar’s new ownership will be decided in a few days. The big newspaper groups in the race — Jagran Prakashan, Dainik Bhaskar, Bennett, Coleman & Co., Amar Ujala and ABP — to buy Prabhat Khabar have apparently bid between Rs 50 crore and Rs 115 crore. Media industry sources say that the UP-based Amar Ujala, owned by Atul Maheshwari and Anil Agrawal, is among the highest bidders. Since the Jhawars of Usha Martin declined comment, the bid estimates are guesstimates and not precise numbers.
An executive of one of the bidders says that the paper should not be valued at more than Rs 55-60 crore because the latest readership surveys show the paper trailing behind Hindustan in Jharkhand. With a readership of 10.77 lakh, Hindustan has marched ahead of Prabhat Khabar’s readership of 9.86 lakh. Dainik Jagran with a readership of 7.73 lakh is not far behind.
Others point out that Prabhat Khabar’s circulation is still its strong point. Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures for January-June 2006 place Prabhat Khabar and Hindustan at 2.28 lakh and 1.69 lakh copies, respectively. The second attraction is that Jharkhand has become a growing market. “The East is suddenly fashionable as the states here are in revival mode,” says Pramath Sinha, managing director of ABP. “Jharkhand is coming up well,” agrees Sanjay Gupta, CEO of Jagran Prakashan. Advertising in the East (Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Orissa) has been growing at nearly 19 per cent a year, compared to the national average of 15-16 per cent.
Raghunath says that Jharkhand is a lucrative market as it has at least three towns — Ranchi, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur — with a million plus population each. “Besides, Jamshedpur and Ranchi are undergoing a retail revolution with malls and multiplexes being opened, and retail brands such as Pizza Hut and Cafe Coffee Day opening shop.”