Byju's announces acquisition of Aakash Education Institutes in a billion dollar deal

World's leading Indian ed-tech start-up BYJU’s on Monday announced its strategic partnership with the 33-year-old Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL). The partnership deal is nearly one billion dollars. It has become one of the most expensive deals in the country's ed-tech space. As per a press statement shared by BYJU's,  Aakash founders and Blackstone will become shareholders in BYJU’S and the founders JC Chaudhry and Aakash Chaudhry will continue to spearhead AESL’s growth and expansion.

Byju Raveendran, Founder, and CEO, BYJU’S said, “I am happy to have Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), a market leader and the most trusted name in the test-prep services, onboard with us. Our complementary strengths will enable us to build capabilities, create engaging and personalized learning programs. The future of learning is hybrid and this union will bring together the best of offline and online learning, as we combine our expertise to create impactful experiences for students.” “The pandemic has brought the importance of the blended format of learning to the forefront. As we unite our forces to bring together decades of expertise and experience, this partnership will further accelerate Aakash’s growth and success,” he added.

"The addition of Aakash is a significant step towards strengthening BYJU’S product offering. It reiterates the company’s focus on creating impactful learning products for students by adding more verticals, subjects, and languages to the same platform," the press statement reads.

Aakash Chaudhry, Managing Director, AESL said “At Aakash, we are looking to transform student experiences by steering innovative and digitally-enabled learning solutions. Together with BYJU’S, we will work towards building an omnichannel learning offering that will accelerate test-prep experience to the next level. While this partnership will enhance our operational verticals, Aakash will continue to operate as a separate entity with the same passion and commitment with which its Founder & Chairman Mr. J C Chaudhry incepted it. We are excited to partner with BYJU’S, and will strive to deliver long-term value to our students, employees, investors, and other stakeholders.”

Amit Dixit, Co-Head of Asia Acquisitions and Head of India Private Equity at Blackstone, said “We invested in AESL because it is one of the leading education brands in India with a professional management team, best-in-class corporate governance, and a 33-year track record of exceptional results. We have always believed omnichannel will be the winning model in test prep and tutoring, and we look forward to being a part of the partnership between the two foremost companies in Indian supplementary education – Aakash, and BYJU’S. The combination of Aakash and BYJU’S is highly synergistic and we are excited to help build India’s largest education company”