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New Delhi, June 24 With the need for a skilled labour force growing in the country, Pearson Plc on Wednesday announced the establishment of a 50-50 joint venture with Delhi-based Educomp Solutions to provide vocational training.

According to the agreement, Pearson will acquire a 50 per cent stake in Educomp’s existing vocational training business for Rs 85 crore. The company also announced that it will acquire a 17.2 per cent stake in Bangalore-based online tutoring company, TutorVista.

Pearson’s investment for the two acquisitions is about Rs 145 crore.

Speaking at a press conference to announce the deals, Mr Vivek Govil, President and CEO, Pearson India, said: “As for vocational training, Pearson has content and assessment capabilities. The partnership with Educomp brings execution capabilities.”

Mr Khozem Merchant, Deputy Chairman, Pearson India, said: “The joint venture with Educomp will focus on vocational training which would target blue collar jobs.” He added that this was the perfect time to enter the education services business in India and was confident that public bodies would support Pearson’s entry into India.

The training courses would be backed by Pearson’s globally recognised certification, EdExcel. The certification, however, is not recognised by the Indian Government. Areas such as food services, construction, hospitality and low-end IT skills have been targeted by the company. Mr Govil said the company is looking more at investing in bringing in training staff and using the facilities of Educomp.

While the Educomp joint venture will focus on the domestic education business, the TutorVista investment will focus on providing online tutoring for US students. It will be an offshore operation. As the single largest shareholder in the company, Mr Peter Cohen, CEO of Pearson Education’s US School Curriculum Group, will be appointed to the board of TutorVista.

Mr Merchant said this was just the beginning for Pearson in India. According to him, a cluster of companies under the Pearson umbrella plans to set up base in India. Pearson Assessments will be set up in Bangalore in the next few weeks and by the end of the year Pearson Test of English will also be available to Indian students planning to go abroad and study. The PTE is recognised by the Graduate Management Admission Council.

More Stories on : Mergers & Acquisitions | Software | Education

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