News Corp acquires Indian information services group VCCircle
News Corporation has acquired Indian information services group Mosaic Media Ventures Pvt. Ltd., the owner of the VCCircle Network.
The VCCircle Network consists of a range of sites, all (as their name may suggest) providing information and services primarily to venture capital investors.
Its core site VCCircle.com offers private equity, venture capital, and M&A related information and analysis of the Indian investment ecosystem.
VCCEdge offers an online subscription-based data platform with comprehensive information on VC/PE/M&A deals, deal multiples, IPOs, directories of PE/VC firms, investment banks and law firms, private and public company information, company financials, shareholding structures, professionals and key developments related to companies throughout India.
Like many, the VCCircle Network also has a tech blog by the name of Techcircle.in, that offers news from India’s technology startups.
Where the serious money comes in is with its last two arms, VCCircle Training, a division that conducts intensive workshops and seminars on finance, legal and regulatory topics for corporate, financial and legal professionals; and VCCircle Conferences, a premium content-led conference division that conducts a range of conferences across major Indian cities in industry verticals and around focused B2B themes.
“This important investment is a sign of our faith in India’s future and our enthusiasm for working with and building up emerging talents in the country,” News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson said in a statement. “India is an increasingly meaningful part of our portfolio, which is itself increasingly digital and global.”
It’s an interesting buy for News Corp., although not their first in India, with the news giant having acquired financial planning site BigDecisions.com in December 2014; it also acquired a 25 percent stake in Indian real estate marketing site PropTiger.com in November 2014.
The model offered by the VCCirle Network isn’t a new one: a company has a niche targeted, well-trafficked website, then accompanies it with spin off and support services, including where the big money is: education and/ or conferences. What the buy does for News Corp. is to position them as a publisher and service provider in a highly influential niche (venture capital) in a country which offers enormous growth opportunities; India is predicted to overtake China and become the world’s fastest growing economy by 2016.
The price of the acquisition was not disclosed.
Image credit: VCCircle.
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