India’s biggest online-education startup Byju’s has signed a deal to acquire brick & mortar test prep leader Aakash Educational Services Ltd.for $1 billion, reported by bloomberg.
However, there has been no official confirmation of the same from either Byju’s or Aakash Educational Services.
About Company
Aakash Institute
Blackstone Group-backed Aakash Educational Services runs Aakash Institute, which has over 200 brick and mortar centers and tutors students to gain entry into the country’s elite engineering and medical schools.
Its student count is over 250,000.
Byju’s
Byju’s was founded by Byju Raveendran, a former teacher and the son of educators, who conceived the smartphone app in 2011.
The app caters to students from kindergarten to the 12th grade, and has been adding over 5 million users a month.
India has about 250 million students in the K-12 grades.
The app provides lessons in maths and science through video animations and games.
Share holding pattern
In this deal, Aakash’s founders, the Chaudhry family, will exit completely, while Blackstone will swap a portion of its 37.5% equity in Aakash for Byju’s stake.
Deal closure
The deal, one of the largest edtech acquisitions in the world, will be closed in the next two to three months.
Byju’s Valuation
Byju’s is valued at $12 billion and has been on a fund-raising spree as the pandemic has sent demand for its online lessons soaring.
Byju’s Performance
More than 70 million users logged in in from over 1,700 cities around the country, Byju’s said last September when it announced a fund raise.
Of these, over 4.5 million are paid users.
It’s targeting doubling its revenues to $1 billion in the current financial year ending in March 2021.
Press the Bell Icon for notifications of all updates
