The board of directors of Byju’s, the prominent edtech company, has given its approval for the initial public offering (IPO) of Aakash Education Services.
The IPO is expected to be launched in the middle of next year, 2024.
Byju’s announced this significant step in a statement released on June 5, confirming the board’s official approval.
The appointment of merchant bankers for the IPO will be announced shortly to ensure a successful listing of Aakash Educational Services in the coming year.
It is worth noting that there was a previous plan to launch this IPO in 2023.
This announcement comes at a time when Byju’s is facing a deadline to pay a quarterly interest of $40 million (approximately Rs 330 crore) on a loan it obtained in November 2021.
Earlier reports suggested that Byju’s was preparing for an IPO of its test preparation unit, Aakash.
The IPO was expected to value Aakash at $3 to $4 billion, with the company aiming to raise around $1 billion from the offering.
Byju’s stated that Aakash is targeting a revenue of Rs 4,000 crore in the current financial year (FY24),
with an estimated operating profit (EBITDA) of approximately Rs 900 crore.
Byju’s acquired Aakash in April 2021 in a deal worth 90 crores.Since the acquisition, Byju’s revenue has grown nearly threefold in the past two years.
According to Kane Research, the test preparation market is projected to grow at a rate of 9.5 percent between 2020 and 2025, with the online test preparation segment expected to grow at a rate of 42.3 percent.
Currently, Aakash operates around 325 centers across the country, catering to over 4 lakh students.
