Dutch Firm Takes Over Org-Marg

The $2.8 billion Dutch information services major VNU has increased its stake in ORG-Marg, the Indian market research company, from 35 per cent to 85.2 per cent. The Reserve Bank has recently approved the deal.

This follows an announcement of VNU's $22 million acquisition of 50.2 per cent stake in ORG-Marg from the owners of the Business India group, the Advani family. Of the rest, 11 per cent is controlled by ORG-Marg chairman and chief executive K M S Titoo Ahluwalia, while 3.8 per cent is held in an employees' trust.

"We will be really spreading our wings in India and outside," Ahluwalia, who will remain at the helm of ORG-Marg after VNU takes over the company, told Business Standard yesterday.

 

The Business India group representatives, chairman Ashok Advani and Rajkumar Advani, have already resigned from the board of ORG-Marg which includes NCAER chief S L Rao, election analyst Dorab Sopariwala, chartered accountant P R Khanna and Ahluwalia.

In the agreement signed with VNU last year, one of the clauses stated that the Advanis would have an option of buying back their shareholding in ORG-Marg till March 2000.

According to sources, this deadline was extended till late April after which, due to some technical hitches ( a RBI clearance did not cover one preference share), the deadline was extended by 10 days. According to media reports, the Advanis, at one stage, had even managed to cobble together the finances to exercise the buyback option. Ahluwalia said, "Now with the complete takeover by VNU we can leverage Indian skills abroad through VNU network."