NEW YORK (March 8, 2015) - News Corp announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire the VCCircle Network, which includes VCCircle.com, Techcircle.in, VCCEdge, VCCircle Training, in addition to a premium-content driven conference business.
Terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close in March, were not disclosed.
“This significant 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,” said News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson. “India is an increasingly meaningful part of our portfolio, which is itself increasingly digital and global.”
“For the past decade, we have built a strong franchise with proprietary data, information, content, and networking capabilities around India’s digital business world,” said P.V. Sahad, Founder and CEO of VCCircle Network. “Being a part of News Corp will now allow us to accelerate our already aggressive growth plans.”
VCCircle Network is owned by Mosaic Media Ventures Pvt Ltd and has about 100 employees across India, with its headquarters in Noida. Sahad, and the management group, will become part of News Corp’s India team. Sahad will report to News Corp Senior Vice President, Strategy, Raju Narisetti.
The VCCircle acquisition builds on News Corp’s recent digital investments in India. In November, News Corp acquired a 25% stake in PropTiger.com, India’s leading online residential real estate platform. In December, News Corp acquired BigDecisions.com, which aims to help Indian consumers make smarter financial decisions through interactive, decision-making tools powered by sophisticated algorithms and data. News Corp also has a presence across India through its Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins Publishers businesses.
About News Corp
News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content to consumers throughout the world. The company comprises businesses across a range of media, including: news and information services, book publishing, cable network programming in Australia, digital real estate services, digital education, and pay-TV distribution in Australia. Headquartered in New York, the activities of News Corp are conducted primarily in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. More information: www.newscorp.com.
About VCCircle Network
The VCCircle Network includes the following:
- VCCircle.com is a pioneer in private equity, venture capital, and M&A related information and analysis of the Indian investment ecosystem. It tracks M&A, venture capital, private equity, investment banking, and emerging companies and sectors, and was the first such website in India to launch a premium subscription-led offering.
- VCCEdge is 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 & key developments related to companies throughout India. It primarily serves private equity and venture capital firms, investment banks, law firms, with around 200 institutional clients.
- Techcircle.in, launched in February 2011, is dedicated to tracking India’s booming technology startups, including the people behind the companies, innovations, products, strategies and startup financing.
- VCCircle Training, which launched in 2011, is an executive education division that conducts intensive workshops and seminars on finance, legal and regulatory topics for corporate, financial and legal professionals.
- VCCircle Conferences is a premium content-led conference division that conducts several annual conferences across major Indian cities in industry verticals and around focused B2B themes. Over the past seven years, it has held some 100 conferences, hosting over 15,000 delegates and 1,500 speakers.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management’s views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance as of the time the statements are made. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in global economic, business, competitive market and regulatory and other factors. More detailed information about these and other factors that could affect future results is contained in News Corp’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The “forward-looking statements” included in this document are made only as of the date of this document and we do not have any obligation to publicly update any “forward-looking statements” to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law.
Contacts
News Corp
Jim Kennedy, 212-416-4064
Corporate Communications
@jimkennedy250
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Raju Narisetti, 1-646-649-6342 (mobile)
Senior Vice President, Strategy
@raju
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Daisy Dunlop, 212-416-3158
Corporate Communications
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Mike Florin, 212-416-3363
Investor Relations