In March, MCH Group, the Swiss fair conglomerate that owns Art Basel, announced that it would establish a “new portfolio of leading regional art fairs,” by either taking a stake in existing art fairs around the globe, or creating new ones. Today, the first of these initiatives was announced: MCH Group will take a majority stake in India Art Fair, the largest contemporary art event in South Asia. MCH Group will own 60.3 percent of the fair, the previous owner Angus Montgomery will own 29.7 percent, and Neha Kirpal, the fair’s founding director, will retain 10 percent.
MCH Group had previously announced that it had begun negotiations with Angus Montgomery, which also operates Art16 London, Photo Shanghai, and ArtInternational Istanbul, about acquiring fairs. The group is no stranger to that particular global-events conglomerate: its executives Tim Etchells and Sandy Angus were the co-founders of Art HK, which MCH Group acquired and rechristened as Art Basel Hong Kong.
A news release stresses that, unlike Art Basel Hong Kong, India Art Fair will not be a new fair in the Art Basel stable, but rather part of the separate MCH Group regional fair portfolio, run by different management.
The next edition of India Art Fair takes place February 3–5, 2017, in New Delhi.