Learning and skills development firm Centum Learning is open to acquisitions and is looking for the right investors to aid its growth. The Bharti Group education company, which Chennai-based Everonn Education was considering buying earlier, is now planning entry into segments like agriculture.
Sanjeev Duggal, chief executive and director, said, "We are trying to acquire and attract good investment. But the investor should be right. Further, we are also looking at newer sectors and regions, which will be targeted to improve our margins. We are open to both organic and inorganic ways of growing."
In August 2012, Everonn, part of Dubai-based Sunny Varkey Group, said it planned to acquire Centum in a cash-and-stock deal to expand its reach in the Indian training business. However, in February this year, Everonn terminated the plan.
Centum trained 140,000 people in the country last year and aims to increase that to 160,000 this year. Duggal claims centum was the highest performance partner for the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). The company is working through its 469 learning centres in 190 districts in India and around 78 towns across 17 countries in Africa, where it trained 40,000 last year.
The company has established Centum WorkSkills India in partnership with NSDC to train 12 million Indian youths.
Centum offers corporate training, vocational education & skills training, training at schools/colleges and training for global employability but, Duggal said, enterprise training is where the big business is. He added the company was eyeing expansion in countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. Developed markets, are too crowded, Duggal said.
Centum, which clocked a revenue of Rs 170 crore last year, is targeting a revenue of Rs 200 crore this year. For this, the company is expanding into sectors like agriculture, oil & gas, health and construction. However, Duggal said it was too early to go public.
