Chennai-based leading KPO firm, PreMedia Global ( PMG), a publishing and content services provider with facilities in Chennai and the US, has attracted Rs 72 crore private equity investment from JM Financial India fund.
JM Financial, a $ 225 Million PE fund will pick up minority stake in PreMedia, with promoters holding the majority stake. PMG has raised the money through a holding firm and the funds will be used for overseas acquisitions and expansion.
The JM Financial group teamed up with US-based Old Lane Partners to launch the JM Financial India Fund last year, to invest in unlisted domestic companies, seeking growth capital.
So far, the fund has closed four investments in sectors such as auto-components, farm equipments, high-end fashion retail and financial services. This is its first investment in Chennai.
PMG was founded in March 2005 with six employees by the Chennai-based brother-sister team of Kapil Viswanathan and Kami Narayan. Their father, late S Viswanathan was Chairman of Enfield India, makers of popular motor cycles. It was acquired in early nineties by Eicher group.
Since inception, PMG has completed three strategic mergers and acquisitions in the US- to add onsite facilities, additional skill-sets and customers. “The publishing services space, which is very fragmented and vendor-based is undergoing a consolidation. Our growth strategy is to take advantage of the trend with growing size of the vendors ,” Mr Kapil Viswanathan, co-CEO, PMG told ET.
A couple of years back, PMG acquired Westwords, a US-based content management company headquartered in Utah and merged with another publishing services provider called Prepress based in Massachusetts. It also merged with Ohio-based Beacon Group and shifted its headquarters to US from Chennai. Its client base includes publishers such as Pearson, Houghton Mifflin and Wiley. Besides acquisitions, the company is planning to grow organically by offering services such as e learning.
The e-learning and publishing services space seems to be in flavour among private equity funds. Recent examples include Sequoia Capital's investments in two e-learning companies- TutorVista and Brainvisa and also Helion Ventures investment in publishing and e-learning company, Hurix Systems.
PMG currently has revenue of $20 million, which it plans to double to $40 million next year. It will also double its current headcount of 500 by September this year. Of the 500 employees, 330 work in India and 170 in the US.
“We will moving to a new 240-seat facility at Ascendas IT park at Taramani in Chennai in a couple of months, which can accommodate 750 people around three shifts,” said Ms Kami Narayan, co-CEO, PMG.
Presently, PMG has a natural hedge against rupee appreciation, since majority of its operations is concentrated in the US. However, it will explore other markets to counter currency fluctuations in the long term.
Source: Economic Times