Ashok leyland
Navneet Publications
BlackSoil Advisory LLP acted as sole advisor to this transaction
Ashok Leyland has announced its entry into the Tanzanian market by bagging an order for 723 trucks, buses and special application vehicles. The order that is worth around US$ 36.56 million has been received from the Government of Tanzania. These vehicles will be used for logistical purposes by the government and the company will complete deliveries by end of the current fiscal.
Sonata Software
Bangalore-based IT services firm Sonata Software is also joining the bandwagon of leadership transitions in the IT world. Much like Wipro and Infosys, this mid-tier company recently announced its plans for a transition as well. As part of the new plan, the firm announced that Sanjay Viswanathan, former Reed Elsevier chief outsourcing and offshoring officer will join Sonata as its new chief executive officer, Managing Director and Member of the Board. Viswanathan, who has also served as vice-president of Genpact, brings in expertise in the IT / BPO business. B Ramaswamy who was the vice-chairman and managing director and who served the company for 24 years was announced as the chief mentor.
Sonata, promoted by the Raheja family and Bhupati Investments, is facing tough times as its bottomline has suffered. During the past few quarters the performance of the joint venture TUI Infotech and the domestic products and platforms business has experienced losses. As the companies are becoming more customer-focused as well as vertical-focused, the first priority of Viswanathan as the new CEO would be creating a niche for verticals which can generate more revenues.
The company presently has only one specialisation, which is in the travel, transportation and logistics (TTL) business. Sanjay, an alumnus of the Harvard Business School and Strathclyde University, has also worked for Infosys (Head – Global Strategic Relationships and Public Sector), and 3M (Brand Manager, S & M Manager). An avid reader, he loves both watching and playing cricket.
Bangalore-based IT services firm Sonata Software is also joining the bandwagon of leadership transitions in the IT world. Much like Wipro and Infosys, this mid-tier company recently announced its plans for a transition as well. As part of the new plan, the firm announced that Sanjay Viswanathan, former Reed Elsevier chief outsourcing and offshoring officer will join Sonata as its new chief executive officer, Managing Director and Member of the Board. Viswanathan, who has also served as vice-president of Genpact, brings in expertise in the IT / BPO business. B Ramaswamy who was the vice-chairman and managing director and who served the company for 24 years was announced as the chief mentor.
Sonata, promoted by the Raheja family and Bhupati Investments, is facing tough times as its bottomline has suffered. During the past few quarters the performance of the joint venture TUI Infotech and the domestic products and platforms business has experienced losses. As the companies are becoming more customer-focused as well as vertical-focused, the first priority of Viswanathan as the new CEO would be creating a niche for verticals which can generate more revenues.
The company presently has only one specialisation, which is in the travel, transportation and logistics (TTL) business. Sanjay, an alumnus of the Harvard Business School and Strathclyde University, has also worked for Infosys (Head – Global Strategic Relationships and Public Sector), and 3M (Brand Manager, S & M Manager). An avid reader, he loves both watching and playing cricket.
Navneet Publications
The board of Navneet Publications (India) Ltd. has
approved a strategic investment of over Rs. 45 crores in Sequoia capital backed K-12 Techno Services
Pvt. Ltd. K-12 is a Hyderabad based school management company servicing around
67 state board schools run by several trusts across Andhra Pradesh with over
50,000 students in the affordable education segment and run under the Gowtham
Model Schools (GMS) and Orchids brands. In addition to state board schools,
K-12 also manages 8 junior colleges and an international school. K-12 had
earlier raised capital from marquee investor - Sequoia Capital last year for
expansion and consolidation of its activities in Andhra Pradesh. In current
financial year K-12 has signed management contracts with more than 15 schools at
different locations in AP. With this latest round of funding, K-12 plans to
launch its services across five different states and is targeting to manage
over 200 schools in the next 3-4 years.
K-12 has been offering school management services such as
school administration, curriculum development, infrastructure development,
teacher recruitment & training, transport solutions, branding
&marketing of respective school, technology services, to help improve the
quality of education delivery by educational trusts in Andhra Pradesh. Navneet
and K-12 will also work closely with schools in Maharashtra and Gujarat to
extend school management services to schools in these states using Navneet’s
market strength and K-12’s expertise in this area.
Navneet has been the dominant market leader in the content
and stationery segment for over five decades clocking revenue of over Rs. 5500mn and PAT of over Rs. 780mn in FY2011. Its publishing business is
predominantly in Maharashtra and Gujarat and this investment in K-12 provides
it with an excellent opportunity to develop and launch its products and
services for the Andhra Pradesh State Board over the next couple of years. This
investment also enables Navneet to diversify from its publishing and stationery
business and enter the fast growing direct education segment.
Sunil Gala, President - Finance, Navneet Publications Ltd.
said “The affordable school segment is a large market opportunity which remains
largely untapped across the country and with the partnership with K12, we see
an excellent opportunity to service this market and improve the quality of
education delivery across the country at affordable prices which is in line
with Navneet’s philosophy of making quality education affordable”.
Chairman of K12, Venkatanarayana said “Navneet’s
experience, brand, relationship with the education fraternity for over 5
decades will further enable K-12 to tap newer geographies relatively faster as
we look to expand outside AP. We look forward to our next phase of expansion
with the continued support of Sequoia as financial partner and Navneet as a
strategic partner to the Company”
