John Makinson, chairman and chief executive, Penguin Group, and Pearson India Chairman, is happy with the deal with TutorVista. He worked as a teacher in India before honing journalistic skills on foreign shores. In a conversation with Sharmistha Mukherjee, Makinson (also in charge of Pearson's programmes in the country) shares his vision of developing TutorVista as a laboratory for global experiments on educational services and to lead India into becoming a centre for excellence. Edited excerpts:
Pearson’s stake sell agreement with TutorVista is perhaps the largest deal signed in the educational space in the country. What synergies would exist between the two companies?
We are a leading developer of educational content in the world and are looking at acquisitions which would help create scale and bring us closer to consumers. India represents an enormous opportunity for us not just domestically but as a centre for excellence globally. The investment in TutorVista gives us control of the world’s largest online tutoring business and a platform on which to build a strong presence in the private schools’ sector in the country. Services of TutorVista would be integrated with Pearson platforms across the world now. They would have a captive base to tap into and access to Pearson content.
Pearson, on its part, for the first time, would be directly involved in the management of schools worldwide. It is a new territory we are foraying into. TutorVista would be like a global laboratory for experiments on educational services which can be offered in other countries.
Would you continue to focus on expanding footprint in schools across India, or would you look at straddling in higher education space?
When we started our education venture here, we were clear we wanted to provide services in schools and for vocational training in the country. Last year, we tied-up with Educomp for vocational training and skill development initiatives. We do have interests in higher education.
Can we look at Pearson setting up a university in the future?
We do not intend to set up a university here or in any other geography. We do offer services in institutes for higher education. In the US, we have this platform called e-college which provides digital management services. This is an area which we can explore. Besides, we are also looking at opportunities to provide English language classes and to offer chapters in teachers’ training programmes in future.
When it comes to publishing, how important is India as a market?
Penguin is in India for over 20 pears and during this period we have been able to build both the business and the brand. We have a big initial advantage compared to competitors and a significant market share here. We have four regional offices worldwide in New York, London, Delhi and Melbourne. The India office manages operations in West Asia and Africa. Besides, we established the Dorling Kindersley Network, which churns out content from India for sales globally.
There have been reports of Financial Times evincing interest in forging an alliance with CNBC-TV18 in the country…
That is a very old rumour. It was put to rest with the credit crisis.
There is no such development in the offing.
