Education-focused publishing house S Chand & Company Pvt Ltd has raised nearly Rs 179 crore ($27 million) from International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank, and its existing investor Everstone Capital, it said on Tuesday.
Although, the transaction details were not disclosed, IFC had separately said it plans to invest around $17.22 million in the Delhi-based company. Initially, it planned to invest about Rs 120 crore (approximately $19.3 million). However, this would have changed, given the volatility in value of Indian currency.
"The investment will be used to scale up operations in education publishing and the digital education space which will enable S Chand to reach more students, in addition to creating skilled jobs," S Chand and Company joint managing director Himanshu Gupta told PTI, which first reported the development.
Everstone Capital Partners II LLC, which had picked a significant stake in the publishing house for Rs 200 crore or $38 million in late 2012, is estimated to have put Rs 65 crore (nearly $10 million) this time.
An email sent to Dhanpal Jhaveri, managing partner for private equity at investment management firm Everstone Capital, did not elicit any response till the time of filing this article.
IFC, which has both direct investments in India as well as LP interest in a clutch of Indian private equity firms, is also an investor in Everstone fund. Last year, it had committed to put $50 million in Everstone's latest fund.
Founded in 1939 by Shyam Lal Gupta, the S Chand group is now owned and managed by Himanshu Gupta and Dinesh Kumar Jhunjhnuwala and their families.
The group has offices in 26 cities across India with printing facilities at Rudrapur (in Uttarakhand) and Sahibabad (in Uttar Pradesh).
It publishes a variety of books catering to up to 12th standard (or K-12), higher education, competitive exams and children’s books. Besides, it offers digital learning solutions for government and private schools and engineering colleges through joint ventures.
In September last year, S Chand and Company agreed to acquire Saraswati House for an undisclosed amount.
Recently, IFC has made another investment in the country’s education sector. It committed to invest $7 million (Rs 46 crore) in education services company CL Educate Ltd, best known for its erstwhile test prep brand Career Launcher.