Byju's To Launch Aakash IPO By Mid-2024
The announcement of the timeline for Aakash's IPO comes on the deadline day for a $40 million quarterly interest payment.
The board of Byju's has approved the initial public offering of its test preparatory acquisition, Aakash Education Services Ltd., to be launched by the middle of next year.
"The appointment of the merchant bankers for the IPO will be announced soon to ensure a planned and successful listing next year. The upcoming IPO will provide a significant capital infusion, to bolster Aakash's infrastructure, broaden its reach, and extend high quality test-prep education to a larger number of students across the nation," it said in a statement on Monday.
Aakash has clocked a threefold increase in revenue in the last two years, and is on track to reach Rs 4,000 crore with an Ebitda of Rs 900 crore in FY24, Byju's said.
"As Aakash prepares for its public listing ... it now looks forward to leveraging the opportunities presented by its public listing, to empower even more students to achieve their aspirations and excel in their chosen fields," the statement said.
The announcement of the timeline for Aakash's IPO comes on the deadline day for a $40 million quarterly interest payment that it is scheduled to make on the $1.2 billion loan it took, Bloomberg reported.
This is the same loan that was at the center of Byju's Alpha, a unit of the company in the U.S., getting sued by an agent of its creditors—Timothy Pohl and Glas Trust Company. Talks to restructure the loan had failed and the creditors had sued.
Last month, Byju’s had put out a statement saying that it is current on all debt payments, and that any defaults that the lenders are alleging are technical breaches of the loan agreement and not monetary.
Byju's has also come under criticism for delayed financial reporting. It filed its results for fiscal 2021 around 18 months after it ended, in which it reported a thirteen-fold rise in loss. Its earnings for fiscal 2022 have also not been filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs yet.
As of FY21, Think & Learn Pvt., the parent company of Byju's, reported a net loss of Rs 4,588 crore. At Rs 2,430 crore, revenue was little changed from the previous 12 months. Based on unaudited numbers, FY22 sales increased fourfold to almost Rs 10,000 crore.