Aptech to set up 150 centres in FY12

IT training firm Aptech today said it plans to add 150 centres this fiscal in India and other markets.

The company currently has more than 800 centres in India and 150 centres overseas across 40 countries.

"We are looking to expand our footprint with about 150 new centres, of which about 30 would be in overseas markets," Aptech Managing Director and CEO Ninad Karpe said.

Of the 30 overseas centres, around 10-12 would be in Africa and balance in other countries, he added.

The company follows a franchise model for its centres. Aptech will also expand the operations of MAAC globally.

"MAAC does not have any centre outside India as yet. This year, we are looking at 1-2 centres overseas. We are planning our first centre in Philippines in next couple of months," Karpe said.

Aptech had acquired MAAC in January last year for Rs 76 crore. MAAC offers animation and multimedia education.

Asked if the company would merge the operations of its own brand 'Arena Multimedia' and MAAC, Karpe said, "Though the backend of both Arena and MAAC are same, the front end is different. We would have two different competing brands since they are seen as different entities."

The company today announced MAAC's partnership with the United Nations Information Centre.

"MAAC has annual film festival called 24FPS. Under the partnership, films will be made revolving around UN's Millennium Development Goals [MDG]," Karpe said.

With this tie-up with UNIC, the company will have pretty much a global visibility whereby UN bodies also will show films made by students of MAAC across the world, he added.