Marzban Patel, Edipresse in JV

Edipresse Asia, publisher of Tatler and a subsidiary of the Swiss firm Edipresse, has entered into a publishing joint venture with Marzban Patel.

The new entity, Edipresse India, will launch a magazine in the luxury and lifestyle space by December. Edipresse will own 74%  and Patel will own 26% in it.

This will be Patel’s fourth line of business — he runs Mediascope, an international media sales company, Publicitas Digitas (digital media sales) and a custom publishing and sales business, which produces luxury and lifestyle magazines for hospitality, financial services and airline companies, apart from industry associations and government bodies.

Patel said the venture will employ about 40-50 people in editorial and management positions, while continuing to use ad sales specialists from its existing businesses. “We’ll use a 360-degree approach towards the project. Readers will be able to access the product through events, digital platforms and in print. Advertisers will, therefore, be able to reach his target group at all these touchpoints,” he said.

India’s luxury advertising market is pegged at Rs 60-70 crore and growing, despite the downturn.

“The international luxury industry has not given up on India. Most well-known luxury brands like Chanel, Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent are more than 70-100 years old and in all those years, they’ve all gone through various cycles of economy.”