Bloomsbury Publishing setting up new business in India

Bloomsbury Publishing today announces thatit is setting up a new business in India.

Among the fastest growing economies in theworld, and with a rapidly increasing population where 50 million buy Englishbooks every year, India is an excellent market for the expanding and diverseproduct range of Bloomsbury. It is also steadily becoming an important sourceof authorship and will be a significant future ebooks market.

Bloomsbury has already been operating inIndia for 25 years with a long standing marketing and distribution partnershipwith Penguin. The Group now plans to grow its presence in India by setting up awholly owned business. This is in line with the Group’s strategy to globaliseand further diversify, and follows the success of the recent licensing deal forthe Wisden brand in India. Bloomsbury will focus in India on exploiting theexciting growth opportunities the country offers, leveraging the strength ofthe Group’s large range, and also developing Indian authorship and publishingprogrammes. The timing is good with the Indian retail chain footprintincreasing rapidly, growth of on-line retailers and the country’s significantfuture ebook readership.

For Bloomsbury it is important that thiskey initiative is led by a trusted, experienced and respected leader. TheIndian company will be led by Rajiv Beri, a highly-regarded publishingprofessional who has been Managing Director of Macmillan’s Indian operationsfor over 15 years. The company will be based in Delhi and is expected to beoperational by May 2012.

Nigel Newton, ChiefExecutive, commented:

“We are hugely enthusiastic about this newventure and are looking forward to building our presence in this growingmarket.”