Longhorn buys out Dar publisher

Longhorn Publishers has bought Delah Publisher Tanzania in a bid to grow its Tanzanian market share. Unveiling the deal last week, Longhorn said it had signed a contract giving it intellectual property rights over 21 titles in Mathematics, Science and Vocational Kkills of Delah Tanzania.

Delah currently provides books for the English-medium primary schools in Tanzania. The shelf value of the author-publisher deal is estimated at Sh30 million though the considerations paid to Delah publications remain confidential. According to Longhorn, the acquisition was commensurate with the great value and the anticipated returns.

Longhorn estimates to generate sales of more than Sh46 million in the next financial year from the acquisition, rising to Sh60 million in the subsequent period from the titles’ current performance of Sh8 million annually.

Niche market

Longhorn Managing Director Musyoki Muli said the English-medium schools in Tanzania present enormous growth opportunities. “There are few good published materials for this niche market and we plan to exploit this opportunity to provide quality and leadership,” he said.

“The full acquisition of Delah Publishers is part of our developmental goals of constantly looking for new growth paths particularly in the English-medium school niche market in Tanzania.”

Muli said the acquisition will cushion the company against adverse policies in the home market and help it realise return on investment in the subsidiaries.

Delah publishers Proprietor John Mwaniki said Longhorn is best placed to carry on his dreams. The acquisition follows another successful bid of Apex Publishers which held 40 per cent market share in the Tanzanian English Medium schools.