Byju to acquire Akash Educational Services Ltd for $1 billion

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By Ashish Mitra --
Wednesday, 13 Jan, 2021

Post the pandemic, offline or physical learning centres including schools and coaching institutes have taken a hit while online classes have thrived and grown.

In contrast, India's largest online-education startup, Byju's has entered into a deal for acquiring Blackstone backed Aakash Educational Services Ltd for $1 billion. Byju, that is valued at $12 billion, has been looking at expanding as demand of online classes peaked during the pandemic.This deal will be one of the largest edtech acquisitions in the world. The deal will be sealed in two or three months. Aakash Institutes has as many as 2,50,000 students all over India.

According to a Bloomberg report, the Chaudhry family, founders of Aakash will completely exit while Blackstone will swap a portion of its 37.5 per cent equity in Aakash for Byju's stake.

Bangalore-based Byju's was founded by Byju Raveendran in 2011. In August 2015, after 4 years of developments, the firm launched Byju's: The Learning App. The Byju's app caters to students from kindergarten to the 12th grade.

India has about 250 million students in the K-12 grades. The app provides lessons in math and science through video animations and games.

Byju to acquire Akash Educational Services Ltd for $1 billion. Post the pandemic, offline or physical learning centres including schools and coaching institutes have taken a hit while online classes have thrived and grown.

In contrast, India's largest online-education startup, Byju's has entered into a deal for acquiring Blackstone backed Aakash Educational Services Ltd for $1 billion.  Byju, that is valued at $12 billion, has been looking at expanding as demand of online classes peaked during the pandemic.This deal will be one of the largest edtech acquisitions in the world. The deal will be sealed in two or three months. Aakash Institutes has as many as 2,50,000 students all over India.

According to a Bloomberg report, the Chaudhry family, founders of Aakash will completely exit while Blackstone will swap a portion of its 37.5 per cent equity in Aakash for Byju's stake.

Bangalore-based Byju's was founded by Byju Raveendran in 2011. In August 2015, after 4 years of developments, the firm launched Byju's: The Learning App. The Byju's app caters to students from kindergarten to the 12th grade.

India has about 250 million students in the K-12 grades. The app provides lessons in math and science through video animations and games.