Gakken hopes to use Vietnam as a stepping stone into the ▨Southeast Asian education market. Photo by Reuters.
Japanese education company Gakken Holdings has invested in a Vietnamese textbook publisher, viewing the country as a foothold to expand in Southeast Asia as Japan’s declining birthrate threatens the domestic market.
The investment in DTP Education Solutions, thought to be worth several billion yen (1 billion yen equals $7.57 million), gives Gakken a 35% stake in the company and makes it the largest shareholder.Gakken acquired shares from existing stockholders and through third-party allotment. It also has gained board representation.DTP, whose consolidated sales for 2022 totaled about 3.6 billion yen, holds a roughly 30% share of Vietnam’s English textbook market. Gakken will help DTP produce textbooks and workbooks for subjects other than English, such as mathematics and science.Vietnam let private-sector companies enter textbook publishing in 2019. Gakken saw a chance to use its textbook editing know-how.The Japanese company intends for this partnership to kick off an expansion of its textbook and workbook business in the region. Gakken aims to raise its overseas sales ratio to 30% by 2030 from less than 5% now.Source:
