NEW DELHI: CyberMedia, South Asia’s largest specialty media house, announced the acquisition of a 49% stake in Publication Services, Inc. (PSI), through its wholly owned US subsidiary, CyberMedia India LLC. CyberMedia has an option to acquire 100% interest in PSI in 3 years time.

PSI, with a 50-member strong team and FY 06 revenue of US$ 2.7 mn, provides a wide range of book and document production services for publishers. Its repertoire of clients includes McGraw-Hill, Cambridge University Press, Harvard University Press, Elsevier Science, John Wiley & Sons, Oxford University Press, and many more. The company is strategically located in Champaign, Illinois.

The acquisition of PSI provides CyberMedia access to a strong client base and team of experienced US-based professionals for growing its high potential content outsourcing business. According to industry estimates, the global opportunity for publishing outsourcing is estimated at US$ 8.2bn.

The Indian market for publishing outsourcing is expected to grow at a CAGR of 38% from US$ 200mn in 2005 to US$ 1.1bn by 2010, driven by availability of trained workforce proficient in English language and publishing, offering high quality at competitive prices.

PSI will be able to expand its scope of projects to its clients through this tie up and acquire new clients by providing cost effective content services. CyberMedia has a team of 130 professionals in India with expertise in original content creation, design, typesetting, data conversion, archiving and digital asset management.

Speaking on the occasion, CyberMedia CMD and CEO, Mr. Pradeep Gupta said, “We are excited about our partnership with PSI and, together, we can embark on a faster growth path in addressing the content outsourcing market with a highly experienced and quality driven team. This is the next step in CyberMedia’s advent towards going global.”

Dr. William Stout, CEO of PSI, stressed that “the alliance between CyberMedia and Publication Services represents an ideal partnership in the current global publications marketplace. It combines editorial expertise, project management skills, and U.S. client base of PSI with cost-competitive, high quality typesetting, graphics, and proofreading skills of CyberMedia. I look forward to a long and rewarding partnership that will stimulate strong growth and enhance profitability for both companies, as well as provide unparalleled publishing services worldwide.”

Mr. Rajeev Seth, President, CyberMedia Services, will manage the partnership on behalf of CyberMedia. Speaking on the occasion, he said, “We look forward to scaling up and making a significant impact in the publishing services outsourcing domain with committed quality of services across a range of platforms.”

CIOL Bureau