News Corp announces acquisition of VCCircle Network

VCCircle Network is India's leading digital data, information, training and conferences network for private equity, venture capital and start-ups

News Corp announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire VCCircle Network, which includes VCCircle.com, Techcircle.in, VCCEdge, VCCircle Training, in addition to a premium content-driven conference business, the global media giant said in press statement on Sunday.

The terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close in March, were not disclosed.

“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,” 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 PV Sahad, founder and chief executive officer 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 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 Raju Narisetti, News Corp’s senior vice-president, strategy.

The VCCircle acquisition builds on News Corp’s recent digital investments in India. In November, News Corp acquired a 25 per cent 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.

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News Corp 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. 

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THE VCCIRCLE NETWORK

• VCCircle.com: It tracks mergers & acquisitions (M&A), venture capital (VC), private equity (PE), investment banking, and emerging companies. It was the first website in India to launch a premium subscription-led offering
   
• VCCEdge:  An online subscription-based data platform with information on VC/PE/M&A deals, deal multiples, IPOs, directories of PE/VC firms, 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, it is dedicated to tracking India’s booming technology start-ups

• VCCircle Training: Launched in 2011, it is an executive education division that conducts workshops and seminars on finance, legal and regulatory topics for corporate, financial and legal professionals

• VCCircle Conferences: A premium content-led conference division that conducts several annual conferences across major Indian cities in sector 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. and HarperCollins Publishers businesses.