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Jagran Prakashan Ltd. (JPL), the publisher of the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran has announced the merger of the print business of Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd (MML, which comprises afternoon newspapers – Mid-Day, Sunday Mid-Day, Gujarati Mid-Day, Urdu newspaper Inquilab & website mid-day.com) with itself through an all stock deal. Here, the immediate task for JPL would be to turnaround MML’s financial fate (MML has a debt of around Rs.35 crore). In the long run, while JPL will get entry into Mumbai, MML’s Inquilab (one of the largest selling Urdu dailies in India) will get a boost from JPL’s strong presence in J&K, UP and Bihar. JPL, which was trying to tap into the burgeoning English newspapers’ market through its Inext and City Plus will now have some new regions to explore. Further, JPL’s strong network will help Mid-Day to strengthen its brand presence and recover ground that was perhaps being lost due to resource constraints. As per IRS 2009, Mid-Day’s average issue readership has fallen to 4,17,000 in 2009 from around 6,63,000 in 2006.

As per analysts, synergies in marketing could bring in 10-15% expansion in revenue for JPL in the near future. Joint marketing and printing facilities, newsprint procurement, et al, will further bring down costs for both. But what still needs to be seen is how the cultures of the two entities will avoid conflicts, which generally occur during mergers.