Santillana, half a century at the forefront of Culture and Education

Santillana has been inextricably linked to the world of textbooks and culture for half a century. Founded in 1960 by Jesus de Polanco, the leading publisher of education and general interest titles has helped several generations of students and teachers to meet their educational needs and to respond to ever evolving social contexts. Tomorrow, the Prince and Princess of Asturias will preside over the ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publishers, which will be attended by leading figures from the worlds of education, culture, business and politics.

Today, against the backdrop of radical change that has prompted the adoption of information technologies by the education and culture sectors, the group is committed to Santillana en Red (Santillana Online) as it faces the challenge of improving both the creation of multimedia educational content as well as the development of technological solutions to support teachers and students. This is a comprehensive, global approach that will involve more than 22 countries, chiefly in Latin America, and where annual sales are in excess of 117 million books. In economic terms, the group closed 2009 with revenue of 617 million euros, EBIT of 90 million and net income of 49 million.

Santillana started out with the publication of manuals, alphabet primers and vocational training texts, as well as children's books. Half a century later, it publishes books for all stages of non-university education in Spanish, Portuguese and English and, through its regional publishing houses, in all the official languages of the Spanish state.

Starting in the mid-1970s, Santillana expanded its operations by moving into general publishing. The group's development reached a significant milestone with the incorporation of three of the most prestigious publishers in Spain: Taurus, Alfaguara, and Aguilar, who between them have several Nobel laureates on their books (José Saramago, Günter Grass, Mario Vargas Llosa), established and emerging national and international authors, as well as major classics. Also part of the Santillana stable are Alfaguara Infantil-Juvenil, aimed at the children's and youth market, and Altea, El País-Aguilar (travel guides and food) and paperback publishers Suma and Punto de Lectura, in the area of mass-market popular fiction.

Santillana has an important presence in Latin America through its own companies in almost all Spanish-speaking countries as well as in Portugal, Brazil, the UK and USA. In order to further develop its operations in Latin America, in April 2010, Santillana partnered with DLJ South American Partners, who now have a 25% stake in the Group. Thanks to this geographical diversification, the publishing group has demonstrated its financial strength in an adverse economic climate and it continues to pursue its strategy of growth and expansion, with major opportunities in Brazil, USA and Mexico, and to develop integrated systems for education.

Source: CINCO DIAS