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Informist, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal Wednesday approved the demerger of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.'s non-publishing business into Times Horizon Pvt. Ltd. From the material on record, the demerger scheme appears to be fair and reasonable and is not in violation of any provisions of law and is not contrary to public policy, said the tribunal.

 

In September, the board of directors of both the companies at their respective meetings had passed resolutions approving the demerger scheme. The appointed date fixed under the scheme is Apr. 1, 2026 or the date on which the effective date occurs, whichever is earlier, said the tribunal.

 

The tribunal, on Nov. 19, had dispensed with the meeting of equity shareholders, unsecured creditors of the companies. It had directed for publication of a notice and for issuance of notice to the statutory authorities in terms of Section 230(5) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Rule 8 of Companies (Companies Arrangements and Amalgamation) Rules, 2016.

 

Bennett, Coleman & Co. is directly or indirectly engaged in publishing of news across print and digital medium, television broadcasting, digital products and services, magazines, internet businesses, radio, entertainment, music, movies, out-of-home advertising, real estate classifieds, education, edtech, fintech, sports, gaming and, investments in various asset classes. Times Horizon is formed with the object to carry out the non-publishing business. Times Horizon will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Bennett, Coleman & Co.

 

In order to achieve optimum growth in the various businesses of the Times Group and considering the nature of varied risks involved, respective businesses will benefit from dedicated management, operations and investment strategy leading to expansion and growth for maximisation of stakeholders' value, said the companies. The petitioners said that it will be apt and beneficial to reorganise the businesses currently carried on by Bennett, Coleman & Co. into two broad businesses being publishing and non-publishing, which should be managed and operated by teams with similar management skills and synergies, for the best interests of all stakeholders. This reorganisation will bring more focus, better synergy, enhanced flexibility and will also enable the businesses in accessing capital and attracting business-specific partners and investors, said the petitioners.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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