Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp announced yet another acquisition in India with the agreement to purchase Bangalore-based GyanMatrix Services Private Limited.
The company, which provides software solutions for media and publishing companies, will be renamed News Technology Services, and be significantly scaled up.
The News Corp team came in touch with the Gyan Matrix as part of the group’s attempts to secure technology support for its media properties. GyanMatrix, for example, helped News Corp expand the mobile application and website of ‘The Sun’ newspaper in the UK.
“They have already done incredible work for us, from operations and infrastructure support, data technology and science, to software development,” said Christina Scott, Deputy CTO, News Corp.
News Corp plans to double the size of the team in Bengaluru within 6 months and expand the services of the new unit to all of News Corp’s properties. The new owner will expand the company’s operations and infrastructure, including the creation of over 120 new jobs in India, adding to an existing workforce of 170 employees, News Corp said.
Its office in Electronic City, Bengaluru will be expanded to accommodate more staff in an upgraded suite of state-of-the art offices.
“The company plans to recruit for a range of roles, including infrastructure technology and operations, application development, data science and digital product development,” it said.
Rajan Parasuraman, founder of GMX, will stay on to lead the company as Managing Director.
“The acquisition of News Technology Services is key to our global technology strategy and the amazing team in India are a big part of our growth plans”, said Dominic Shine, Global chief information officer, News Corp.
NTS will work directly with News Corp’s global brands to offer a range of technology services, including web development, application support, infrastructure management and cyber operations, it said.
The approach will allow NTS to augment each company’s individual technology teams, particularly in skillsets that are difficult to recruit in local markets.
“This deal is an extension of our ongoing work supporting the digital innovation underway at News UK, ” said Rajan Parasuraman, Managing Director, NTS.
News Corp already has a significant presence in India through its Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins Publishers businesses. In recent years, the company has also acquired VCCircle and a stake in Elara Technologies, which includes the digital real estate properties PropTiger, Housing.com and Makaan.