When warring brothers Samir and Vineet Jain finalized the historic partition of one of India’s largest media conglomerates - Times Group-in Delhi by signing an MoU on Thursday, only three men were present on the occasion.

They were - Puneet Dalmia of Dalmia Bharat, Subramanian Narayanan and Sivakumar Sundaram, both top executives of BCCL- who are believed to have helped Samir and Vineet Jain to arrive at a final deal and part ways amicably.

The trio can be seen along with Jain brothers in the picture taken during the signing of MoU.

These leaders, along with a couple of more top biz leaders of India, are credited with shaping up a complex deal and carving out the partition in two equal halves smoothly, something that was acceptable to Samir and Vineet Jain both.

Exchange4media was the first to report about the MOU’s details along with an exclusive picture earlier on Saturday.

Puneet Dalmia (50), Managing Director at Dalmia Bharat Limited, has been part of key negotiations between Jain brothers as a mediator. A gold-medallist MBA from the Indian IIM-B, and a B. Tech. degree from IIT-Delhi, Puneet is considered as one of the finest business leaders in India with an expertise in investment, merger and acquisition. He is admired by both the brothers.

Subramanian Narayanan, Executive Director & Group CFO. at Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL), who also spearheads merger and acquisition for the group, has been a trusted aide of Vineet Jain for many years. According to Times group insiders, Narayanan has got excellent negotiation skills and has played a crucial role in getting the best deal for Vineet Jain.

Sivakumar Sundaram, Chairman Executive Committee, BCCL, remained part of the negotiations throughout. Sundaram, believed to be from Samir Jain’s side, was present at the time of signing the MoU as well. Sundaram played a key role in shaping up the partition and getting the lion’s share for Samir-entire print portfolio along with online editions, insiders say. Newspapers have been the flagship business of the group, especially Times of India that started 180-years ago, much before the partition of India.

The deal

As per the deal, Samir Jain is going to get a hold of entire Print businesses of the conglomerate along with their online editions.

Vineet Jain will occupy Broadcast, Radio Mirchi, OTT platform MX Player, Entertainment (ENIL), and other businesses such as Filmfare and Femina, people privy to the matter told e4m. Besides, Vineet will receive a cash payout of at least Rs 3,500 Cr from his elder brother to balance out the partition.

“The real estate belonging to the company, which includes various properties and printing press across India, have also been valued and will be divided equally between the two brothers”, people privy to the matter said.

Repeated emails sent to Samir and Vineet Jain and the group’s corporate communications personnel remained unanswered till the time of writing this story.

Photo Caption: L to R Vineet Jain (Blue shirt), Samir Jain (White shirt) on chairs signing the MoU.

Behind: N. Subramaniam (Subbu, yellow shirt), Puneet Dalmia (violet shirt) and Sivakumar Sundaram (pink shirt)