Byju’s has apparently signed a deal to acquire Aakash Educational Services Ltd, backed by Blackstone, for $ 1 billion. India’s largest online education company, Byju’s, worth $ 12 billion, was eager to grow as demand for online courses peaked during the pandemic.
This deal will be one of the largest edtech acquisitions in the world. The Aakash Institute, with more than 200 physical centers across the country, teaches students access to India’s elite medical and engineering colleges. These institutes have more than 2,50,000 students.
Post-pandemic learning centers, offline or physical, including schools and training institutes, have been successful while online courses have flourished.
Also read: Byju’s raises $200 million in fresh funding
According to reports, the Chaudhry family will completely leave the founders of Aakash, while Blackstone will exchange part of its 37.5% stake in Aakash for that of Byju.
Byju’s, based in Bangalore, was founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran. In August 2015, after four years of development, the company launched Byju’s: The Learning App. The Byju app is intended for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
India has around 250 million students from kindergarten to grade 12. The app offers math and science lessons through video animations and games.
According to Byju, more than 70 million users from more than 1,700 cities across the country signed up last September when a fundraiser was announced. More than 4.5 million of them are paying users. In the current fiscal year, ending March 2021, sales are expected to double to $ 1 billion.
