By Bhupesh Trivedi

Starting as Tata Press, a printing press, in the year 1955, Infomedia India Ltd has come a long way, to establish its own position in the modern publishing arena of India.

With annual sales of Rs 124 crore (about US $ 27 million), it now publishes seven consumer magazines, 12 b2b magazines, several children books, yellow pages for various cities and city/office guides across the country.

The company has several distinctions to its credit:
1. The oldest publicly listed publishing company in India
2. The biggest band of b2b titles in India
3. The largest yellow pages publishing company in India
4. Multiple relationships with international companies - Reed, Vogel Burda, Future, Disney, Ringier and Wisden
5. One of the very few professionally-managed publishing companies in India

Infomedia is smaller in size compared to major newspaper and magazine publishers (notably consumer magazine publishers) in the country. But, its growth path and current portfolio hold a lot of promise of a media giant in the making.

In the last couple of years, the company has gone through metamorphosis - a process that still continues. It is changing from a printing press-driven company to a value-added publishing business.

The process is also seeing de-focussing and exit from a few of the old businesses like leather gifts manufacturing and Bollywood filmmaking.

With a professional manager, Prakash Iyer at the helm of affairs as the company's managing director, the company is today attracting maximum attention from international publishers seeking to enter into licensing or joint venture relationships.

Among the international relationships already in place are:
1. A joint venture company with Reed Business International to launch Reed's business titles in India
2. A licensing relationship with Wisden to publish a cricket magazine
3. A deal with Ringier's Hong Kong office to share editorial content and advertising
4. A broad licensing deal with Disney to publish children's books and magazines in India.
5. A licensing relationship with Future, UK to publish gadget magazine 'T3' in India.
6. A licensing deal with Vogel Burda to publish computer magazine 'Chip'.

Mr Iyer is very specific about his international partners - all licensing deals will be in the consumer space.

Infomedia's international canvas is not limited just to getting international publishers in India. It is leveraging its relationships and local infrastructure to drive another bottomline business of providing services to international publishers on outsourced terms from India.

The outsourcing business commands equal management time, with the company aggressively entering the USA and UK markets, with the acquisition of publishing services companies, one in each country. With these 100% acquisitions, the company now expects to reach out to international book and magazine publishers with direct marketing initiatives.

Supporting the entire gamut of its operations are 2,100 employees spread across 21 offices within India. Mr Iyer wants the company to reach out to the SME segment across the country, with plans to increase the number of the company's offices to 30 in the next one year.

The three major engines of growth for the company are (a) special interest (consumer) and b2b magazines, (b) yellow pages/city guides and (c) publishing BPO business.

In b2b space, Mr Iyer says, "We want to change the rules of the game." Infomedia will produce high-quality content, akin to the content of Harvard Business Review, to enable Indian businesses to do their business better.

Amongst other publishing opportunities, he has mixed feelings about custom publishing in India. He admits that it is hugely attractive in India, but it is not an IP business. "We will do it if there is an edge," he says.

Riding on the publishing drive, the company is aggressively entering the event space. "Events is a huge opportunity. You ignore it at your own peril," Mr Iyer adds.

In its effort to spread aggressively in multiple directions, the company sure faces several challenges -
1. Entry of international publishers as competitors
2. Larger newspaper publishers are seeking to enter magazine publishing in India
3. Bigger consumer magazine publishers like India Today and Outlook have deep pockets to fight it out longer
4. With a large number titles being launched by several large and small publishers in the consumer and b2b space, particularly in the English language segment, Infomedia will need to find solutions for thin slices of readership and advertising revenue shares
5. Rising cost of operations - particularly promotions, manpower and paper.

Infomedia India Ltd, while being listed on the country's stock markets, has almost 64% of its equity stake owned by ICICI Ventures Ltd, the private/investment-banking subsidiary of India's largest private sector ICICI Bank.

With the profile of ICICI Ventures Ltd in the background, there is this possibility that the company may see change in its ownership anytime in the future. ICICI Ventures Ltd is in the business of creating and enhancing value, which can be capitalised.

The above is reflected in the fact that Infomedia India Ltd, though not the biggest publishing company in India, has a price-to-earnings ratio close to 60 on the Indian stock markets, making it the most expensive publishing stock in India.

Whether international publishers gain from the increased value or will end up paying for this increased value, we will all know soon.