Sept 15 (IANS) Edtech specialist BYJU will pay venture capital firm Blackstone a balance of nearly Rs 200 crore as part of its $1 billion acquisition of Aakash Educational Services on Sept 23.
According to BYJU’s FY2021 financial report, “Under the terms of the agreement to acquire Aakash Education Services in June 2022, the company shall pay the supplier a consideration of Rs 1,983 crore. This has been deferred until September 23, 2022”.
Blackstone owns nearly 38 percent of Aakash, and BYJU paid nearly 75 percent of the Aakash purchase price.
Meanwhile, BYJU could soon raise more than $500 million (nearly Rs 39,000 crore) at a valuation of around $23 billion, which could be used to cover the remaining amount under the Aakash deal
In FY21, BYJU posted a revenue of Rs 2,428 crore against a huge loss of Rs 4,500 crore.
According to the company, the lean growth between FY21 and FY20 is the result of a change in the way BYJU records its revenue “as recommended by its auditors”.
If BYJU does not pay Aakash by September 23, edtech professionals will have to knock on the door of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to complete the deal, according to legal experts.
BYJU did not comment on the development.
Last month, BYJU announced it had completed its $1 billion acquisition of offline test prep provider Aakash, one of the largest deals in the edtech space.
In a statement, the company said its payment to Aakash had been “completed.”