Byju’s has to pay ₹2K cr to clear Aakash acquisition deal on Sept 23

NEW DELHI: Edtech major Byju’s is set to pay the remaining amount of nearly Rs 2,000 crore to VC firm Blackstone in the $1 billion acquisition of Aakash Educational Services on September 23.

Byju’s financial report FY21 says, “as per the terms of the agreement for acquisition of Aakash Educational Services, consideration to the extent of Rs 1,983 crore was due to be paid by the company to the sellers in June, 2022. This has been deferred to September 23, 2022”. Blackstone has nearly 38 per cent stake in Aakash and Byju’s has paid nearly 75 per cent of the Aakash acquisition amount.

Meanwhile, Byju’s is likely to raise over $500 million (nearly Rs 3,900 crore) at a valuation of around $23 billion soon, and the funds may be utilised to pay the remaining amount in the Aakash deal.

In its FY21, Byju’s registered Rs 2,428 crore as revenue over a massive loss of Rs 4,500 crore.

According to the company, the rationalised growth between FY21 and FY20 is a result of the changes made in the way Byju’s recognises its revenue, “as advised by its auditors”.

According to legal experts, if Byju’s does not pay Aakash by September 23, the edtech major will need to knock at the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) doors for completing the transaction. Byju’s did not comment on the development.

Last month, Byju’s said it had closed the $1 billion acquisition of offline test preparatory services provider Aakash, one of the largest deals in the edtech space. In a statement it said its payments to Aakash are “closed”.