S Chand buys 51% stake in Chetana Publications

New Delhi: Listed publishing company S Chand and Co. Ltd on Thursday announced plans to buy a controlling 51% stake in Chetana Publications Pvt. Ltd to expand its base in the school education space. S Chand said its board has approved an investment of ₹ 58.5 crore to acquire the 51% “partnership interest” in an all-cash deal. “This investment is in line with the inorganic growth strategy of S Chand to expand its share in the K-12 content publishing market,” said the company.

This is the fourth key investment in educational publishing content made by the S Chand group since 2012. Prior to this deal, it had acquired Vikas Publishing House, New Saraswati House and Chhaya Prakashani.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Chetana Publications…this transaction will enhance our collective ability to deliver better academic outcomes and expand our reach in the west (western India) region,” said Himanshu Gupta, managing director of S Chand and Co.

Rakesh Rambhia, managing partner of Chetana Publications, said the financial support and domain expertise of S Chand will help them expand “more rapidly and broadly”.

“We believe Chetana is a good strategic fit and will help us move closer to our objective of creating a diversified regional presence in the school market,” said Dinesh Jhunjhnuwala, executive director at S Chand and Co.

On 2.45pm Thursday, S Chand shares were trading 0.35% higher at ₹ 355.45 on the BSE while the benchmark Sensex was at 38,026.68 points.

S Chand reported revenue of ₹ 807 crore in 2017-18 with K-12, or the school segment, contributing around 80% of the total. Its product portfolio includes printed learning material, digitally enabled books, smart class solutions, learning management systems, curriculum management, test preparation platforms, STEM learning, and e-books.