WSJ, Indian biz paper Mint end relationship

The Wall Street Journal and the Indian business newspaper Mint have ended their seven-year-old partnership effective Tuesday.

Suptarishi Dutta of Quartz writes, “The original deal, signed in 2006, was for five years. It was extended for another three years in 2011, according to a person familiar with the agreement at one of the companies. Mint paid close to $500,000 in licensing fee annually. WSJ was free to place advertising on the pages that carried WSJ content in Mint, and the publisher did so in the early days. But it never turned into a significant business, the person, who spoke to Quartz asking not to be identified, said.

“The two companies also entered into talks for a stake sale in Mint in 2009-10 and had engaged bankers. But they did not close a deal. Now when the partnership came up for renewal, there was a lack of enthusiasm ‘from both sides’, the person said.

“From the heights of exploring an equity sale, the relationship seems to have run out of steam pretty rapidly.

“The partnership between the two publishers was facilitated by Raju Narisetti, who left WSJ as a deputy managing editor to launch Mint in 2007. The arrangement, under which Mint carried several pages of WSJ-branded content, continued even after Narisetti left in 2008. After a stint at as managing editor at the Washington Post, he is now at WSJ’s parent News Corp, as senior vice president overseeing strategy.”

Read more here.