US-based digital learning firm McGraw-Hill Education has completed the acquisition of its local partner in the Indian publishing and digital learning JV firm, Tata McGraw-Hill Education Pvt Ltd by acquiring the remaining minority stake held by two Tata charitable trusts. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
This acquisition comes as McGraw-Hill Education increases its focus on providing educational solutions and services globally. As part of the transaction, McGraw-Hill will rename the JV to McGraw-Hill Education India Pvt Ltd.
"As India has made great strides in developing its economy, its need for an educated, skilled workforce has increased enormously. We are extremely proud of Tata McGraw-Hill's success in preparing India's students to thrive in the global knowledge economy, and through this acquisition, we are deepening our commitment to improving education and results for students around the world," said Buzz Waterhouse, president and CEO of McGraw-Hill Education.
Formed in 1970, the Tata McGraw-Hill joint venture provides educational materials in India, serving the school, higher education, professional and healthcare markets. In August 2012, Tata McGraw-Hill Education and Vriti Infocom, a ‘smart’ education platform, tied up to launch free, online ‘Smart Courses’ on tablets for engineering and management students.
McGraw-Hill Education offers solutions for pre-K through postgraduate education and also provides reference and trade publications for the medical, business and engineering profession. The company has offices across North America, India, China, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions available in more than 60 languages.
The acquisition comes soon after the company announced plans to acquire ALEKS Corporation, a privately held US-based developer of the ALEKS adaptive learning technology for the K-12 and higher education markets. This was the first acquisition since McGraw-Hill Education was acquired by funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management in March 2013. In January, McGraw-Hill Education acquired an equity stake in Area9 Aps, a Denmark-based adaptive learning company.
Last month, McGraw-Hill Financial (earlier The McGraw-Hill Companies), which sold its education business to Apollo Global while retaining content and analytics business focused on capital and commodity markets, made an open offer to acquire up to 22.23 per cent additional stake in Indian credit rating agency CRISIL Ltd.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
