Moumita Bakshi Chatterjee

To invest $5-7 m for hiking capacity here

New Delhi , March 26

Within a year of completing the takeover of Maximize Learning, Techbooks is on the prowl again eyeing acquisitions in India and the US.Techbooks, a Knowledge Process Outsourcing company, is on the lookout for companies specialising in services such as content IT and litigation support or have customers in verticals including pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.

For organic growth, the company plans to invest $5-7 million this year to augment its capacity in India. "For acquisition we will consider companies with revenues of $10-20 million. We hope to complete a buy-out this year," said Mr Ranjit Singh, CEO of Techbooks.

Financing

The company plans to finance the acquisition through a mix of internal accruals, equity and debt, he said.

Last year, Techbooks acquired Maximize Learning, a provider of advanced e-learning solutions, with development and production resources based in Pune.

Mr Singh said that the company would add 1,000-1,500 professionals to India operations this year.

At present, Techbooks employs 3,000 at its facility in Delhi, while its Pune facility has close to 450. "We are nearing the optimum capacity in our existing centres and plan to establish a new facility in a location where we can attract talent. We may also look at expanding in an existing location," he said.

The company is however not planning to address the domestic market as yet. "We find that a huge opportunity with our existing and new clients and we are currently concentrating on markets like the US, Europe and Australia," he added.

Global clients

With its services spanning desktop publishing, conversion, e-learning and content technology, its clientele includes Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Harcourt Education, McGraw-Hill Companies and Scholastic.

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