Byju’s is on an acquiring spree. After the acquisition of coding tutor WhiteHatJr in a $300-million deal last year, the edtech startup is is acquiring tutorial chain Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) in a cash and stock deal estimated at $950 million.
This is among the largest acquisition by an Indian startup much bigger than Snapdeal’s purchase of Freecharge for $400 million in 2015 and Flipkart’s acquisition of Myntra for an estimated $330 million.
Byju Raveendran the founder said that AESL and the Blackstone Group, will both hold a minority stake in Byju’s. “We will integrate Aakash’s expertise in test prep with our content and tech capabilities and will invest further capital in Aakash once the integration is done,” said Raveendran. Last week, the Bengaluru-based company raised $460 million in a series F round of primary capital at a valuation of $13 billion.
Byju’s is also finalising the acquisition of Toppr, an online learning firm, for $150 million, which it may finance through internal cash reserves.
AESL will continue to operate as a separate entity, according to its managing director Aakash Chaudhry, who said, “Together with Byju’s, we will work towards building an omnichannel learning offering that will accelerate the test prep experience.
In 2019, Blackstone picked up 37.5% in AESL, valuing it at around $500 million.
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