The stakes will be acquired for a total consideration of Rs 24.5 crore Digital media company Quint Digital Media, the only new-age digital-first news/information operator listed on an Indian stock exchange, has entered into definitive agreements to acquire a) 100% ownership of Quintillion Media Private Limited (QMPL) and b) 47.92% stake in Spunklane Media Private Limited, which operates a digital news platform www.thenewsminute.com. The company said that the stakes will be acquired for a total consideration of Rs 24.5 crore, subject to necessary closing adjustments. The consideration will be discharged by Quint Digital on a deferred basis, 5% on closing and balance 95% within a period of 12 months from closing.   The acquisition of 100% of Quintillion Media Private Limited includes underlying stakes in the Quintillion Business Media Private Limited (QBM), Quintype Technologies India Private Limited (QTIPL), and YKA Media Private Limited (YKA).   QBM is an Indian business and financial news company and operates a leading business news digital platform in India. Its main content is based on the Indian economy, international finance, corporate law & governance and business news. As a part of the acquisition, Quint Digital will acquire 100% stake in QBM along with an amended Program Services and Content Sharing Agreement with Bloomberg Television Production Services India Private Limited which inter-alia has extended the tenure of the partnership by 10 years. Anil Uniyal is the Chief Executive officer and Menaka Doshi is the Managing Editor at QBM. Quintype Technologies India Private Limited (“QTIPL”): QTIPL is a Bengaluru head quartered company and is engaged in providing Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) platform to digital media publishers. QTIPL was set up in 2015, and it provides digital publishers with state-of-the-art content and subscription management systems. Quint Digital will acquire 50.41% stake in QTIPL. In September 2020, QTIPL had raised INR 25 Crores from IIFL AMC, part of IIFL Wealth Management in Series A Funding. Chirdeep Shetty is the Chief Executive officer at QTIPL. YKA is India’s largest media platform (www.youthkiawaaz.com) for young changemakers who want to change the world. YKA was founded by Anshul Tiwari, Founder, and Chief Executive Officer in 2014. Quint Digital will acquire 34.6% stake in YKA, including convertible instruments held by QMPL. In addition, Quint Digital will also acquire 47.92% stake in Spunklane Media Private Limited (SMP). SMP operates a digital news platform (www.thenewsminute.com) and is focused on reporting and writing on issues in India, with a specific focus on the 5 southern states namely Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It was founded by Dhanya Rajendran, Chitra Subramaniam and Vignesh Vellore in 2014. Speaking on this transaction, Ritu Kapur, Co-Promoter & Chief Executive Officer, Quint Digital, said “the proposed acquisition of stakes in QBM, SMP and YKA will give Quint Digital the double edge advantage of synergising across news platforms as well as diversifying across demographics and geographies, bringing a larger community of readers/viewers into our fold. QBM’s acquisition will add the most valuable learnings in running a successful premium subscription platform as the world gets ready for a rapid growth of reader revenues. The expansion of audiences across various websites and new-age social media platforms, makes us way and away the largest pure-play digital news/information group in the country. It will close to double our group revenue base, giving us size and clout in the new digital media space. Additionally, QTIPL brings to us cutting-edge capabilities in “media tech”, which is a critical strength in today’s burgeoning growth in digital content.” Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur are also committed to providing the necessary growth capital to Quint Digital, if required, to finance this acquisition and other growth plans, in accordance with the applicable regulatory framework. The transaction has been approved by the Board of Directors and is subject to customary closing conditions and approvals. The proposed acquisition is a related party transaction and is subject to approval of the shareholders in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013, SEBI Listing Regulations etc. Meanwhile, Quint Digital Media has announced its financial numbers for the quarter ended 30th September. The revenue has surged by 85% to Rs 9.6 crore for the quarter ended 30th September as against Rs 5.2 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Total income has shot up by 94% to Rs 10.1 crore from Rs 5.2 crore a year ago. Total expenses rose 71% to Rs 7.7 crore from Rs 4.5 crore. Employee benefit expense stood at Rs 2.4 crore, a 33% increase compared to Rs 1.8 crore in the previous fiscal. Net profit expanded 80% to Rs 1.8 crore from Rs 1 crore. EBITDA jumped over four times to Rs 4.50 crore compared to Rs 1.03 crore in Q2 FY21. The digital properties had nearly 16.03 million subscribers/followers across various platforms at the end of Q2. In the video space, as per Facebook Leader-board, The Quint is the only new-age digital media portal that is rubbing shoulders with traditional and legacy media players. The Quint has also secured a higher video interaction rate on Facebook as compared to leading players within a short span of 6 years. The Quint also featured at the 18th position on Feedspots list of 100 Top Indian News Websites. In due recognition of its position and content, The Quint also bagged two very prestigious awards at the IMA South Indian Marketing Awards, 2021 — Gold in the branded content category & Silver in the branded content and podcast category.