In a major deal, S Chand acquires Kolkata publisher Chhaya Prakashani

In a major development recently, Delhi-based S Chand, a leader in the textbook market, acquired the majority stake in Kolkata-based publisher Chhaya Prakashani. The company specialises in school books, college books, textbooks, career books and academic publishing in West Bengal.

15 Dec 2016 | By Rahul Kumar

While the details of the deal are under wraps, according to market grapevine, the transaction was done at a total enterprise value of Rs 220 crore. If this is true, this will be the largest such deal in education sector in India so far.

In a telephonic interview with PrintWeek India, Samir Khurana of S Chand said the deal means the big players are consolidating the industry in terms of content and geography.

Khurana added that the operations of Chhaya Prakashani will remain unchanged after the acquisition, only the ownership will change. He added that the company is not planning to open another print production unit soon.

According to a report published in The Economic Times, the acquisition is expected to push S Chand's turnover to over USD 100 million. The company closed the 2016 financial year with sales of Rs 540 crore, while Chhaya Prakashani closed with a turnover of Rs 126 crore.

Previously, the 77 year-old company had acquired Delhi-based publisher New Saraswati House in 2014 and Vikas Publishing House and Madhuban Educational Books for reportedly UDS 20 million-USD 25 million in 2012.

According to international publishing consultant Jaya Bhattacharji Rose at a time when good content, especially for the expanding K-12 market is a crying need, this acquisition makes ample sense. “A publisher can only do well by bringing on-board another publishing house specialising in trustworthy and credible content. The Indian books industry will probably be persuaded to challenge itself further by expanding its current lists, exploring multilingual and translation opportunities and partnerships in order to access the various markets which exist within India. Every language, every region, is a sizeable market,” Bhattacharji Rose said.

Chhaya Prakashani's strength lies in having distinct categories of textbooks catering to various school boards in India, thereby fulfilling a crucial need.

Bhattacharji Rose said, for S Chand, this is a strategic acquisition when more and more publishers are veering towards offering content digitally to consumers, such as schools, educators and parents. “An added factor is that the books are available in English and Bengali, enriching the multilingual base of S Chand and meeting specific demands of the local market,” she added.

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