MUMBAI: The Johari family, the promoters of the MaXposure Media Group, have bought back 78.75 per cent stake in the company from Gruner + Jahr, the publishing division of European media conglomerate Bertelsmann.
Gruner + Jahr had acquired the majority stake in the Delhi-headquartered media firm on 1 July 2011, while remaining 21.25 per cent stake remained with co-founder Prakash Johari.
While the financial details of the deal were not disclosed, sources peg the buyback at Rs 40 crore (5.25 million Euros). Following the acquisition, the MaXposure Media Group has become a wholly-owned company of the Johari Family.
While Prakash Johari will continue to lead the company as MD and CEO, his brother Vikas Johari will oversee the creative departments as the publisher and COO.
Prakash Johari commented, “It’s interesting that we got this opportunity to get back in the exciting media space with controlling interest at MaXposure. We learnt and grew significantly over the last three years under the guidance of Gruner + Jahr. We plan to realign the company’s vision for the next three years under the new majority leadership and continue to expand our leading position in the corporate publishing space in India and enter foreign markets.”
Launched in 2006, as a magazine publisher, MaXposure publishes over 30 magazines in the corporate and consumer space. It is the largest in-flight magazine publisher in the Indian subcontinent with in-flight magazines of Air India, Spicejet and Vistara.
The company has also spread across creative solutions, events, custom publishing, ambient media, international representation and outsourcing. It has offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Indore, Chandigarh, Raipur and Ahmedabad.
The company claims that it is the fastest-growing magazine publishing company in India with a CAGR of 55 per cent over last seven years.