Manipal University has inducted Mohandas Pai to help turn itself into a global business of scale. Only time will tell whether Mr Pai (former CFO of once revered Infosys) would be able to do that at Manipal only time will tell. However there are more than a few things that I am amused as well as curious about.
First the company (for profit) that is being talked about is Manipal Universal Learning (MUL) and not Manipal University (MU)(not for profit trust) so its amusing to find the two names being used inter changeably in common and business media. Another curious thing and partly amusing is that the valuation of MUL (in every media report) is still one billion dollars. I have been hearing about this for the past 4 years and it is still the same. During the period, Educomp rose from $ 0.5 billion in terms of market cap to over $2 billion in valuation and has come crashing down to less than $0.5 billion despite growing the business to over 5 times . Wonder what MUL has done during the period. But I guess being unlisted has some advantages in preserving valuation
Was reading a recent article on moneycontrol (http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/features/manipal-universitys-new-courseaction_585036-1.html) on Manipal's new course of action. What amuses me is that the very same things (capitation fee, NRI quotas, profit in education) that are derided elsewhere are very conveniently made to sound like panacea for the education sector. May be they are, I am not passing any value judgement however I am amused at the contrast of views expressed with such ease.
To be sure, for-profit companies in India still cannot legally (atlease not directly) run formal education institutes. Even MUL mostly owns universities outside of India (50% of the business on last count) . Of the remaining majority comes from running learning centers for Manipal Sikkim University (legal on paper but not sure if it is in the spirit of the law).
Also given the deficit of corporate governance in India's education sector wonder if MUL would gain more from Mohandas's clean image thanks to Infosys or Mohandas's image would be affected. I am curious if he would gain anything from speaking to a certain JJ Irani about his recent experiences at at the helm of a listed education company, that was increasingly being touted to be the next big thing.
First the company (for profit) that is being talked about is Manipal Universal Learning (MUL) and not Manipal University (MU)(not for profit trust) so its amusing to find the two names being used inter changeably in common and business media. Another curious thing and partly amusing is that the valuation of MUL (in every media report) is still one billion dollars. I have been hearing about this for the past 4 years and it is still the same. During the period, Educomp rose from $ 0.5 billion in terms of market cap to over $2 billion in valuation and has come crashing down to less than $0.5 billion despite growing the business to over 5 times . Wonder what MUL has done during the period. But I guess being unlisted has some advantages in preserving valuation
Was reading a recent article on moneycontrol (http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/features/manipal-universitys-new-courseaction_585036-1.html) on Manipal's new course of action. What amuses me is that the very same things (capitation fee, NRI quotas, profit in education) that are derided elsewhere are very conveniently made to sound like panacea for the education sector. May be they are, I am not passing any value judgement however I am amused at the contrast of views expressed with such ease.
To be sure, for-profit companies in India still cannot legally (atlease not directly) run formal education institutes. Even MUL mostly owns universities outside of India (50% of the business on last count) . Of the remaining majority comes from running learning centers for Manipal Sikkim University (legal on paper but not sure if it is in the spirit of the law).
Also given the deficit of corporate governance in India's education sector wonder if MUL would gain more from Mohandas's clean image thanks to Infosys or Mohandas's image would be affected. I am curious if he would gain anything from speaking to a certain JJ Irani about his recent experiences at at the helm of a listed education company, that was increasingly being touted to be the next big thing.
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