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Aakash Chaudhry, the promoter of Aakash Educational Services, may return as the CEO of the tutoring unit, which edtech major Byju’s had acquired in 2021, said people who are aware of the matter. This is part of broader arrangement with investor Ranjan Pai and edtech giant Byju’s, sources added.
As part of the arrangement, Chaudhry will get some stake in Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, the parent company of Byju’s in exchange of a portion of his ownership in Aakash. He will take over from Abhishek Maheshwari, who quit as CEO of Aakash last month.
Recently, Ranjan Pai of Manipal Group was in discussions to invest in ed-tech Byju’s owned Aakash to the tune of $250-300 million via his family office, reported businessline.
The Chaudhry family holds about 18 per cent of the company’s shares, will continue to hold around 8.5 per cent in Aakash and receive about 1 per cent of Think & Learn Pvt.’s shares at less than half of its previous $22 billion valuation, post-transaction, said sources. Think & Learn Pvt., meanwhile, will hold around 51 per cent of the company after the deal, sources further added.
In 2021, Byju’s acquired Aakash was acquired by Byju’s for nearly $940 million in a cash and stock deal, in 2021. It was a 70:30 cash-equity deal, under which the promoters of Aakash and Blackstone will receive an undisclosed stake in Byju’s for about 30 per cent of the payment. However, the shareholders of Aakash have been reluctant to execute the share swap, citing Byju’s declining value.
Furthermore, In May, Byju’s signed a definitive agreement with Davidson Kempner to raise $250 million in structured instruments, linked with future cash flows of Aakash Educational Services. However, Davidson Kempner Capital Management has given out less than half of the $250 million of convertible debt it had offered as some loan agreement covenants weren’t met, according to reports.
Byju Raveendran holds nearly 30 per cent stake in Aakash, is expected to partially offload his stake as he looks to raise funds which will be used to repay the laon to investor Davidson Kempner after Byju’s had a technical default on the loan it raised in May.
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