Repro India Ltd, a Mumbai-based firm which is into printing and digitising educational content, has acquired the Chennai-based printing operations of Macmillan Publishers India Ltd (MPIL), a subsidiary of the leading UK-based publisher, for Rs 4.25 crore (excluding land and building which has been leased by Macmillan Publishers India Ltd to Repro).
Established in 1892, MPIL has over 3,000 titles and works with more than 20,000 schools across India. As a part of the deal, it will now outsource the printing of its education books to Repro, which will translate into a business of over Rs 250 crore for the Mumbai-based firm in the next five years. The acquisition of MPIL’s printing operations in Chennai, which has a deliverable capacity of about six million books per year, will further strengthen Repro’s foothold in the South Indian market.
“This alliance will position Repro as a crucial global partner of Macmillan,” said Pramoud Khera, executive director of Repro India Ltd. “This should also throw up opportunities for Repro to partner with Macmillan globally,” he added.
With more than 20 years of experience in this sector, Repro offers printing solutions to quite a few global education publishers. It has an installed production capacity of more than one million books per day and enjoys a long-standing relationship with Macmillan worldwide. Repro has catered to Macmillan’s requirements for education books in India, Africa and the UK. Besides Macmillan, other key clients of Repro include Pearson, Oxford, Longman, Cambridge, McGrew-Hill, World Bank and UNICEF.
Nearly 60 per cent of its business comes from exports, generated by its two facilities in Mumbai and Surat.
“Printing is not our core activity and we would like to focus on publishing growth,” said Rajiv Beri, MD at MPIL. “This is a strategic decision, which will further consolidate our investment and energies in development and delivery of quality, need-based content. Also, we are confident that under Repro, our printing operations will get the required attention, investment and focus,” he added.
For the first quarter ended June 30, 2011, Repro has registered 21 per cent increase in revenues to Rs 72.76 crore, compared to Rs 60.23 crore in the same quarter last year. The company’s net profit increased nearly three times to Rs 8.70 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 2.94 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Repro’s scrip was trading at Rs 162.35 in the afternoon on the Bombay Stock Exchange, up 10.48 per cent compared to the previous close.
