Veranda Learning set to buy JK Shah Education

CHENNAI: Public listed EdTech company Veranda Learning Solutions Ltd through its wholly-owned subsidiary Veranda XL Learning Solutions Pvt Ltd has signed a ‘definitive agreement’ towards acquisition of equity shares of J K Shah Education Pvt Ltd, the company said on Thursday.

Veranda Learning Solutions offers training programmes to prepare for competitive examinations including state public service commission, banking, insurance while Mumbai-based J K Shah Education has been providing coaching to aspirants of Chartered Accountants, for the last 39 years.

“The said transaction will be completed in two phases, with the first phase seeing the payment of 76 per cent of the outstanding capital together for Rs 337.82 crore,” the company said. The entire transaction would be funded through a combination of debt and equity. “This acquisition is a crucial breakthrough into high-demand courses such as Chartered Accountancy as well as financial and commerce courses,” Veranda Learning Solutions, Chairman and Executive Director Kalpathi S Suresh said. “We believe, with Veranda’s strength and technological capabilities coupled with J K Shah Classes’ strong brand recognition and legacy, we will both reach greater heights in the coming years,” he said.

J K Shah Classes has a produced 1,870 CA rankers since 2001. Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal were alumni of J K Shah Classes, it said. On partnering with Veranda Learning, J K Shah said, “This will allow us to leverage their technological prowess and deep network to further strengthen J K Shah Classes’ network and offerings.” “This is a step forward in our journey and will help us provide offerings across different modalities,” he said.

CA Pooja Shah and CA Vishal Shah would continue to lead the day-to-day operations as chief operating officers, following the acquisition.

In CredMAPE and KPMG were the buy side advisors while InCorp Advisory was the sell side advisor for this deal, it said.