S Chand, a 77-year-old firm, publishes education books, and has a pool of more than 3,500 authors and more than 15,000 published titles. As reported in PrintWeek India, the group has offices in 26 cities across India with printing facilities at Rudrapur in Uttarakhand and Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh.

The acquisition of Chhaya Prakashani, believed to be the largest publisher in terms of reach in eastern India, is the third such deal struck by S Chand, and follows its buyout of Delhi-based publisher New Saraswati House.

In 2014, S Chand acquired a majority stake in Delhi-based publisher New Saraswati House. Earlier, it acquired Vikas Publishing House and Madhuban Books. In March this year, S Chand invested in education-technology start-up Testbook.

Last year in November, S Chand had closed a USD 27 million equity financing round, led by IFC, the private sector investing arm of the World Bank, and existing investor Everstone Capital.