Edtech major BYJU’S has announced that it will launch the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of its subsidiary, Aakash Education Services Limited (AESL) mid next year.
The IPO will mark a milestone in the continued growth and expansion of Aakash + BYJU’S, creating a comprehensive portfolio of products that caters to a broader range of students.
The Board of BYJU’S has granted its official sanction for this undertaking. The appointment of the merchant bankers for the IPO will be announced soon to ensure a planned listing next year, said the company.
“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 added.
Since its acquisition, the company claimed that Aakash has benefitted from multiple synergies with BYJU’S that have accelerated its growth, clocking a three-fold increase in revenue in the last two years. AESL’s revenue it said is on track to reach ₹4,000 crore with an EBITDA of ₹900 crore in the fiscal year 2023-24.
Test-prep market revenues are predicted to grow at a CAGR of 9.3 per cent over 2020-2025, led by the online test preparation segment which is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 42.3 per cent over the same duration, as per Ken Research.
Aakash is positioned to capitalise on this growth due to its range of offerings that combine classroom-based learning with digital products and services tailored for engineering and medical entrance exams.
As Aakash prepares for its public listing, the company remains dedicated to its core values of academic excellence and student success.
A market leader in the test-prep category, Aakash now looks forward to leveraging the opportunities presented by its public listing to empower even more students to achieve their aspirations and excel in their chosen fields, said the company.
Meanwhile, the edtech company BYJU’S plans to make a quarterly interest payment of about $40 million on a loan that has been at the centre of the beleaguered firm’s financial troubles.