As part of the deal, MPIL will outsource printing of education books to Repro. This shall translate into business worth Rs 250 crore for Repro over the next five years, a company spokesman said while speaking exclusively to PrintWeek India.

Repro India's executive director, Pramod Khera said: "With this alliance, the relationship between Repro and MPIL will be further strengthened and will position Repro as a crucial global partner for Macmillan." This means, Repro shall partner with Macmillan globally.

The acquisition will include MPIL's printing operations in Chennai. In real terms, this means a deliverable capacity of six million books annually; a move which should strengthen Repro's foothold in the South Indian market.

Repro's client list also includes Pearson, Oxford, Longman, Cambridge, McGraw-Hill, the World Bank and UNICEF.

The Repro Group has been servicing the requirement for education books in India, Africa and UK. More than 60% of its business comes from exports, serviced from two facilities located at Mumbai and Surat.

In addition to an array of sheetfed presses and post-press kit, Repro India’s digital operation comprises a raft of high-end kit, which includes an IGen 3, an InfoPrint, Digimaster, and Rotatek with customised Kodak Prosper digital heads for "printing of variable data before or after colour printing."

Repro will be hosting its AGM on 16 July (Saturday) at The Club in Mumbai. The company's first quarter which ended on 30 June, 2011 is robust. The company has registered a 21% increase in revenues to Rs 72.76 crore, compared to Rs 60.23 crore in the same quarter in 2010. This is a jump of 21% from the same quarter previous year. In addition, net profits have grown by 197% to 8.7 crores.

The Macmillan acquisition becomes effective from 1 August will add Rs 20 to 25 crore of revenue per year. As MPS leans more towards pre-press publishing services, its portfolio aligns with Repro.

The main competition for the Repro-MPS combine would be from New York Stock Exchange-listed RR Donnelly & Sons Co, which acquired India-based outsourced printing and publishing services firm Office Tiger in 2006.

News from the stock markets indicates that Repro India touched a 52-week high of Rs 165.50. The share was quoting at Rs 161.35, up Rs 14.40, or 9.80%. It was trading with volumes of 651,272 shares, compared to its five-day average of 40,690 shares, an increase of 1,500.56%. In the previous trading session, the share closed up 8.45% or Rs 11.45 at Rs 146.95.


Repro India kicks-off book revolution in education. "Books will never be unfashionable," says Pramod Khera

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