TED NewsDesk, New Delhi: India’s leading test preparation leader, Aakash Educational, is combining its forces with the tech startup, involving nearly $600 million in cash and the remaining in stock.
Marking its foot in the offline market, Byju’s is looking at maintaining its leadership position in the field with this amalgamation. The three-decades-old firm, Aakash has taken the opportunity of growing online education preference during the pandemic to explore the deal.
“This partnership aims at making quality online learning accessible for the students in India. The integration of physical location and technology, the integration of physical location contributed by Byju’s will offer a unique learning experience, “ said Aakash Choudhary, Managing Director of AESL. He further added that this “acquisition will add value to the student’s education.”
Byju’s and Aakash Educational executives said that this association will bring accessible online education to smaller cities and towns. The co-founder and Chief Executive of the Edtech giant Byju’s, Byju Raveendran has been a teacher himself, having taught hundreds of students in the past.
The Head of India Private Equity at Blackstone and Co-Head of Asia Acquisitions, Amit Dixit said “we are looking forward to being a part of the association between the two leading companies in the sector.”
With 45 million new subscribers added to its platform during the lockdown and has a renewal rate of 86%, Byju’s claimed that online-only classes are the future. With more than 215 test preparation centres across India, Aakash entered the exponentially growing Ed-tech sector with this deal. The sector is estimated to reach $10.4 billion by the year 2025.
