BENGALURU: Edtech company Byju's, which acquired tuition chain Aakash Educational Services, for about $950 million deal in April 2021, will launch the initial public offering (IPO) of Aakash in mid-2024.
Last month, TNIE reported that the company is in discussion with a few bankers to go ahead with the listing of its subsidiary.
The board of the edtech company has granted its official sanction for this IPO. "The appointment of the merchant bankers for the IPO will be announced soon to ensure a planned and successful listing next year. The upcoming IPO will provide a significant capital infusion to bolster Aakash's infrastructure, broaden its reach, and extend high-quality test-prep education to a larger number of students across the nation," the company said in a statement on Monday.
Since acquisition, Aakash has clocked a three-fold increase in revenue in the last two years. Also, Aakash's revenue is on track to reach Rs 4,000 crore with an EBITDA of Rs 900 crore in FY24.
As per Ken Research, test-prep market revenues are predicted to grow at a CAGR of 9.3% over 2020-2025, led by the online test preparation segment which is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 42.3% over the same duration.
Aakash is one of the largest test prep companies for engineering and medical entrance exams, with over 325 centres currently serving over 400,000 students across the country.
Last year, Byju's had taken an unsecured loan of Rs 300 crore from Aakash. The unsecured loan was granted to the edtech giant at 7.50% interest rate. Byju's in a statement had said, "The Rs 300 crore loan from Aakash Educational Services Limited is in effect an advance against the marketing activities and campaigns that Byju's has been running for Aakash."