The Hindu Business Line : Macmillan India in expansion mode

IN a bid to become a global leader in typesetting and allied services to publishers, Macmillan India plans to acquire other verticals in the next five years, Mr Rajiv Beri, Managing Director, Macmillan India Ltd, has said.

The company has major plans to branch out into legal information and financial information processes.

Macmillan India recently acquired the Chennai-based Charon Tec Pvt Ltd, a company that provides typesetting services to book publishers in Europe and the US. Mr Beri said the acquisition of Charon Tec will have an impact on Macmillan India's topline from 2006 and it is expected that this acquisition will contribute around $3 million in sales next year. He said that with this acquisition, the staff on the rolls has gone up to 450. Macmillan India is adopting an aggressive growth path and recently launched a large book division in Bangalore.

The company has also set up a new subsidiary called MPS Technologies, which provides high-end software products for publishers. This company will provide electronic access and a content delivery platform. The company plans to start fulfilment services.

The company offers Web-based solutions and IT services to publishers globally through its software services unit, emacmillan.

Macmillan is an established brand in the English Language teaching market for both the school and college segments. He said that school textbook market is worth Rs 3,000 crore, of which only 20 per cent was English medium.

The company had been catering to the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) and the ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) schools.

Mr Beri said the next step would be to get into publishing for the various State board schools. He said that most schools that are aided and funded by the State Governments use only textbooks issued by the State Government. The idea was to work with the State Governments and bring out top class books, he said.

Macmillan India has been acknowledged as a business `Superbrand' this year.

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