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New magazine from NextGen Publishing soon
BY OUR MEDIA EDITOR
 1 April 2005: Remember Hoshang Billimoria? No, he did not fade out after he left his job as vice-chairman and MD at Infomedia India. In fact, Billimoria is still very much in business.
Soon after Tatas sold out their stake in Tata Infomedia to ICICI Venture Capital, Billimoria left the company. Now, Shapoorji Pallonji's Forbes Group and housing finance major HDFC have jointly set up a publishing company, named NextGen Publishing Limited. Hoshang Billimoria is to head the venture as CEO. NextGen is expected to come out with its brand-new magazine soon.
From the way NextGen Publishing projects itself, it is clear that Billimoria has his eyes set on the market for special interest magazines currently dominated by Infomedia India. "NextGen Publishing has been established to offer the best in the field of print publishing, through niche/special interest magazines and other print products. NGPL plans to become a leading content generation company," says a press release issued by the company - that is virtually Infomedia territory now.
NextGen Publishing's board of directors includes Nawshir Khurody (ex-chairman Tata Infomedia & former MD, Voltas Ltd. &chairman NGPL), KC Mehra (deputy chairman and MD Forbes Gokak Limited), Keki Mistry (MD, HDFC) and RN Jha (former director, LIC).
Hoshang Billimoria has over 14 years experience in the printing-publishing business. He was responsible for starting the Directory and Magazine publishing business at Tata Infomedia. He successfully steered Tata Infomedia's turnaround from a loss-making printing company to a successful publishing company.
Tata Infomedia came out with several special interest magazines in the B2B and B2C space when Billimoria was at its helm. The Yellow Pages Directories introduced in twelve cities became huge successes.
Deputy Chairman of Forbes Gokak Ltd KC Mehra said: "The Forbes Group, with a majority shareholding by Shapoorji Pallonji, is delighted to partner with HDFC Limited in the formation of NextGen Publishing. We see huge growth potential in both publishing and content generation. With a highly capable team headed by Hoshang Billimoria, we expect very positive results and growth."
And what does Billimoria say? "NextGen Publishing plans to enter into specialized areas, with high quality product offerings, meeting the needs of discerning readers and users. Our team has rich experience in launching well researched, innovative products, and marketing them successfully."
NextGen Publishing will be launching its first magazine shortly. Watch this space!
BY OUR MEDIA EDITOR
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