Stop press! FDI is coming

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 Bennett, Coleman & Co is said to be seeking a foreign equity partner for
its financial daily, “The Economic Times.” “There have been some talks with
‘The Wall Street Journal,” confirms a senior company source. Though “The
Economic Times” may or may not eventually get a foreign partner, Bennett,
Coleman is poised to offload some stake in two of its English magazines,
“Femina” and “Filmfare”, to the British Broadcasting Corporation. 

Meanwhile, Bennett Coleman’s rival in the capital, Hindustan Times Ltd, has
already signed on a foreign partner, Henderson of the United Kingdom, a
subsidiary of Australia’s AMP. Hindustan Times Ltd is forming a separate
company, HT Media Ltd, for the purpose. The K.K. Birla-owned media group is
said to have offloaded a 20 per cent stake for Rs 125 crore. When all the
government approvals come through, Hindustan Times may well be the first
news media group to bring in foreign equity since the government relaxed the
rules on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the print media last year.

Both cases throw up one big question. Has foreign investment started pouring
into Indian print media companies in earnest? No clear-cut answers are
available at present, with industry men divided on the matter.

Source:
http://www.business-standard.com/ice/story.asp?Menu=8&story=22609