MAM
‘Deccan Chronicle’ IPO to open on 25 Nov with 8m shares
NEW DELHI: Media company Deccan Chronicle’s initial public offer is set to open on 25 November with the price of share price being in the band of Rs 162 – Rs 194 per share. This IPO marks the first time in India that a mainline broadsheet newspaper will be publicly owned.
The IPO, comprising 8.01 million shares, closes on 2 December, 2004, according to an announcement made by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, publishers of Andhra Pradesh based newspaper Deccan Chronicle.
The Red Herring Prospectus, dated 8 November has been filed with the Registrar of Companies, Andhra Pradesh. While the final price of the shares will be determined through the book-building route, the company expects to net between Rs 1.3 billion and Rs 1.55 billion.
ICICI Securities Limited have been appointed as the book running lead managers to the issue.
In order to operate a post issue price stabilisation, the issue will have a green shoe option of 1,201,960 equity shares and ICICI Securities Limited have been appointed as the stabilisation agent in this regard.
Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited is one of the leading newspaper publishing companies in India and claims to be market leaders in the state of Andhra Pradesh with its flagship brand, Deccan Chronicle.
The capital raised by the IPO will be used for financing new printing facilities and for venturing into new territories and future strategic initiatives and acquisitions. The company has announced that it will be launching Deccan Chronicle in Tamil Nadu shortly.
The issue will constitute approximately 20 per cent of the fully diluted post offer paid-up capital assuming that the green shoe option is not exercised, and approximately 22 per cent assuming that the option is exercised in full.
An official statement from Deccan Chronicle quoted company executive director (finance) P K Iyer as saying, “Deccan Chronicle is a leading news brand and we intend to leverage our competitive strengths in other markets. Tamil Nadu will be our first destination for leveraging the Deccan Chronicle beyond Andhra Pradesh and we will be continually looking at new markets and opportunities.”
According to Iyer, the global newspaper industry is characterised by an increased level of consolidation and the belief is that this is what will happen in the Indian newspaper industry also. “The IPO, therefore, is our chosen route of funding expansion, acquisition and modernisation for the group,” he added.
During the current year, the company has set-up a modern print facility at Kodapur (Hyderabad), which increases the group’s ability to print colour pages from four per copy to 16 pages per copy. Deccan Chronicle is circulated in Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh with seven editions printed from Vijayawada, Rajmundry, Vizag, Anantapur, Karimnagar and Nellore. The group has successfully withstood competition from most of the leading English newspapers in India and continues to be No. 1 in Andhra Pradesh.
Deccan Chronicle also publishes Andhra Bhoomi in Telugu (daily, weekly and monthly) and several supplements like Hyderabad Chronicle, Vizag Chronicle, Teen Chronicle and Coastal Chronicle, targeted at niche readers.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
