Finally the giant e-learning division was sold off to its competitor. Thomson's prestigious e-learning division Thomson NETg was bought by SkillSoft plc, its e-learning rival, for a whooping $285 million. And as this huge money changes hands the fate of about 300 employees lurks in the dark. While selling off Thomson NETg Richard Harrington, the Chief Executive Officer said that though Thomson Learning is an excellent business it "does not fit with our long-term strategic vision."
So while the deal closes by the first half of 2007, a more pressing concern confronts Indian companies, particularly the ones that were dependent on NETg for a good chunk of their business. What of the employees that were recruited by these Indian vendors who have spent a major part of their lives only working for developing only NETg courses?
With Skillsoft at the helm now, getting NETg projects for Indians companies will remain a challenge for the days to come. Its likely that Skillsoft will analyze Indian vendors now on more stringent parameters.
Unpredictability undoubtedly is the king in e-learning.
2 comments:
I am worried about the employees of companies like Infopro and Praxis. God help them...:-(
The History of Netg
Ok, so someone has acquired NETg. The history of NETg is so full of acquisistions that this news has a deja vu quality to it. The moment you hear about Netg buying/being bought by someone, the old set of quesions prop up: "How old is this news? Am i reading about the acquisition that took place six months ago again? Or is this the acquisition that was supposed to take place in the next FY?
Anyway, I would like someone to clear up the history of NETg. The earliest I heard was that NETg was an Irish company which had just taken over a US company. Then we heard that the American re-acquired Netg again. Then, there was another Irish company hobnobbing with NETg and finally Thomson acquired it. Just when I was feeling comfortable with the history of all these acquisitions (however inaccurate it may be), pow! another acquisition.
Will someone set the history of NETg straignt (or "firmly crooked" as Douglas Adams put it)?
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