The Tatas are in talks to exit Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, the 32-year-old joint venture with McGraw-Hill, owners of Standard & Poor's and BusinessWeek. The Tatas want to sell the group's stake to the US-based publishing giant.
The move is part of a Tata group decision to get out of most non-core businesses, which includes its publishing interests. The Tatas hold their 34 per cent stake in the company through two trusts, Sir Dorab Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust, while the majority stake of 66 per cent is held by McGraw-Hill.
Tata group executives said discussions were on over the price. When contacted, a Tata group spokesperson said, "The matter is yet to be placed at the board level (of Tata McGraw-Hill)."
Established in 1970, Tata McGraw Hill is a profit making company and publishes professional and educational books. The Tatas initially used to hold 60 per cent in the company. Over the past few years, McGraw-Hill hiked its holding to 66 per cent per cent.
This is the second publishing company the Tatas are planning to exit, Reader's Digest India being the first. The Tatas have an agreement in principle to sell their stake to Aroon Purie's Living Media. This is awaiting approval and a recast of Reader's Digest investments.
Tata McGraw-Hill also distributes books published by Harvard Business School, the American Management Association, apart from distributing its BusinessWeek title. The board of Tata McGraw Hill has several Tata group stalwarts like JJ Babha, as chairman emeritus, and Freddie Mehta as chairman.
