Pramath Raj Sinha-headed 9.9 Mediaworx has acquired content portal iGovernment.in for an undisclosed amount. iGovernment—founded by New Delhi-based journalists Shubhendu Parth and Pravin Prashant and incubated by Goosefish Media Ventures (a subsidiary of Webchutney)—is primarily a content portal focussing on governance issues and policy across several segments, with a significant events business. This is the first exit for Goosefish, which also owns tech news portal Alootechie.com and ad network Network Play. iGovernment was founded in March 2008, making this a relatively quick exit for Goosefish, which owns 51% in Blue Slate Media, the company that owns iGovernment. 

Capital18, an arm of Network18 Media and Investments Ltd, is a significant shareholder in Webchutney. 9.9 Mediaworx raised $7.1 million last year from Helion Ventures and TVS Capital.

“The team has created a very successful business of generating relevant content for dissemination through interactive digital publishing which complements our expertise in shaping the new-media industry. There was a natural partnership brewing here, and we are thrilled to take a step in the right direction,” 9.9 MD Sinha said in a statement.

iGovernment claims to have 40,000 registered subscribers for its newsletter and 3.5 lakh visitors per month.

When asked about the valuation of the deal, Webchutney MD Sidharth Rao said: “Today you can exit a content business only if there is revenues coming in. This is not a dot com sale based on spreadsheet projections. This is a revenue multiple deal (referring to a method of valuing a company based on its existing revenues). And this revenue cannot come from advertising. iGovernment has a significant events business.”