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Quint Digital Limited (QDL), India’s leading media-tech company, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive stock purchase agreement with Lee Enterprises Inc. (LEE), a major subscription and advertising platform and a leading provider of local news in US, for participation in a private placement offer aggregating to $ 50 Mn.
Raghav Bahl, co-founder, promoter, and Editor-in-Chief of Quint Digital Limited (QDL) on this historic and game changer deal said, “After we surprisingly failed in 2019/20 to get a license to broadcast BloombergQuint in India, we decided to diversify our news assets beyond domestic boundaries. I am delighted to share that we are set to become the only Indian news company with a strategic investment in a mainstream (not just Indian Diaspora-focussed) American newspaper and digital news operation. Lee is an over 100 years old leader in American news publishing, with market leading brands across 25 states. At QDL, we now have four business verticals – Lee and Quintype/ListenFirst headquartered in the US; The Quint and TimeOut India here.”
This strategic investment is led and backstopped by Anchor Investor David Hoffmann, who has committed approx. $ 35 Mn, along with participation from existing investors, including QDL. QDL has committed an investment of approx. $ 7.97 Mn at an investment price of $ 3.25 per share. Post the completion of the transaction, QDL’s stake in LEE will increase to 14.85%.
Subject to customary closing conditions and stockholder approval, LEE expects to receive the full $50 million of gross proceeds at the closing of the transaction, before transaction expenses.
For more information, please refer to the SEC Filings section on LEE’s investor page: https://investors.lee.net/financials-filings/sec-filings.
About QDL:
QDL is India’s leading digital and media-tech, AI-focused company. QDL creates innovative ideas in the digital space with cutting-edge technology and engaging formats to propel meaningful change. Its conglomerate offers various solutions ranging from news to tech innovations, recently strengthened by the acquisition of ListenFirst Media, a premium social media and digital analytics platform headquartered in New York, which enhances QDL’s capabilities in AI-driven audience insights and engagement strategies. Its flagship platform, The Quint, launched in 2015, delivers trusted, innovative journalism, while Quintype’s AI-powered editorial platform enables seamless content creation for over 300 publishers worldwide. QDL’s suite of brands also includes The News Minute, known for independent journalism from Southern India; Youth Ki Awaaz, a citizen media platform that amplifies the voices of India’s youth; and Kisan India, dedicated to comprehensive coverage of Indian agriculture. Recently, QDL signed an exclusive franchise agreement with Time Out UK, the iconic global brand that inspires and enables people to experience the best of the city, to launch Time Out India which will bring high-quality, expert content and world-class cultural and culinary offerings to Indian consumers and advertisers.
QDL is listed on BSE Limited. Find out more on quintdigital.in.
About LEE:
Lee Enterprises is a major subscription and advertising platform and a leading provider of local news and information with daily newspapers, rapidly growing digital products and nearly 350 weekly and specialty publications serving 72 markets in 25 states. Lee’s commitment is to provide valuable, intensely local news and information to the communities we serve. Lee’s markets include St. Louis, MO; Buffalo, NY; Omaha, NE; Richmond, VA; Lincoln, NE; Madison, WI; Davenport, IA; and Tucson, AZ. Lee Common Stock is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol LEE.
For more information about Lee, please visit www.lee.net