A few days ago, edtech giant Byju’s said that it laid off said 2,500 employees to achieve profitability in March 2023. There have been speculations about the firm facing troubles when Techcrunch reported Byju’s registered a 20x jump in its FY21 loss. However, Byju’s is the talk of the town again. This time, it is for an entirely different reason. The Indian startup is preparing to list its subsidiary Aakash, an offline coaching chain, in India in 2024.
Byju’s says that Aakash is a profitable and strong brand that has takers in India. So, investors feel that the brand should be listed in India. The IPO could be in the range of one billion dollars. It would value Aakash at $3.5 to $4 billion. Byju’s is expected to file the papers in January next year and plans to list the subsidiary in June 2024. Interestingly, the move comes at a time when Byju’s postponed its own IPO due to uncertain macroeconomic conditions. But, Byju’s adds that its US listing might happen after Aakash’s listing.
Aakash is one of India’s leading coaching institutes, Byju’s acquired it in April 2021 for a cash and stock deal of about $950 million, which was one the biggest acquisitions in the edtech space. Aakash offers coaching in competitive exams like JEE and NEET.
