S Chand raises US$ 27 million from IFC and The Everstone Group

The financing to help S Chand increase footprint
in education publishing and digital education

Indian education content provider, S Chand and Company Private Limited (S Chand) has raised US$ 27 million financing from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and existing investor, the Everstone Group. Everstone continues to be a significant minority investor in the Company.

The investment will be used to scale-up operations in education publishing and the digital education space which will enable S Chand to reach more students, in addition to creating skilled jobs.

“IFC’s investment, in addition to global expertise in the education industry, will be used to extend S Chand’s leadership position in the knowledge services business, support our pan India expansion strategy and augment textbooks with multimedia and digital delivery content,” said Himanshu Gupta, joint managing director, S Chand. “We believe digital content has the potential to empower teachers and significantly increase attention and understanding of abstract concepts for students.” IFC will provide equity capital to help the company expand into new sub-segments of education and establish itself as a leader in the non-infrastructure education sector.

Congratulating S Chand on this new partnership, Chris McCahan, chief investment officer, IFC said, “The success of the overall education delivery system depends on the education material made available to students. S Chand is one of the few companies with the scale to increase access to affordable quality education material, particularly in tier II and tier III cities.”

India is IFC’s top country exposure. IFC’s committed portfolio in India is over $5 billion as of June 30, 2015. In FY 15, IFC committed $1.4 billion in new investments. In addition to strengthening local capital markets in India, IFC is focused on boosting financing in infrastructure and logistics, promoting financial inclusion, and expanding access to high-quality and affordable services such as healthcare and education.