Asia Briefing Inks Deal with Times of India

Online, November 17, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Asia Briefing Ltd, the publishers of 2point6billion.com and the titles China Briefing, India Briefing, Vietnam Briefing and Russia Briefing, have signed an exclusive contract for the publication and distribution of the company's book titles throughout the Indian sub-continent with the The Times of India, the country's largest newspaper and media group.

The deal will see the India Briefing title Doing Business in India being sold in hardcover format throughout Times of India's distribution channels on a national basis. It is also being sold online through the Times of India bookstore.

In 2008, the newspaper reported that it was certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations as the world's largest selling English-language daily newspaper, placing as the eighth-largest selling newspaper of any language in the world with a circulation of over 3.14 million copies. According to ComScore, The Times of India online is the world's most visited newspaper web site with 159 million page views in May 2009, ahead of the New York Times, The Sun, Washington Post, Daily Mail and USA Today web sites.

Asia Briefing is a subsidiary company of the Dezan Shira Group, which also owns the Asia regional consulting practice Dezan Shira & Associates. The firm maintains 17 offices throughout Asia, including five in India, and assists with foreign direct investment, legal and tax work throughout the region.

"This important deal with the Times of India enables us to continue to expand and develop beyond the China market and the difficult regulatory environment we find there in publishing. It will help promote both our published products as well as provide a marketing platform for the firm to develop from and comes at a crucial time for the opening up, reform and development of the Indian market for us," comments Chris Devonshire-Ellis, the principal of the firm and publisher of the Asia Briefing titles.

Other books are slated to be included in the deal, including a new Doing Business in China title written specifically for the India market, to be published early next year.