Indian ed-tech start-up BYJU’s has recently announced two new additions to its acquisition spree; upskilling platform Great Learning and learning application Toppr. The new cash and stock deal marks the unicorn company’s sixth acquisition in 2021, across the US and India, according to a regulatory filing.
Sources with knowledge of the matter state that BYJU’s, which is among the most valuable startup firms in India, is expected to spend around $150 million to acquire Toppr, along with another $600 million for the Great Learning acquisition.
To date, BYJU’s has spent more than $2.2 billion for the acquisition of complementary businesses in 2021. By acquiring Great Learning, the company will now make its way into the reskilling and upskilling segment, which has strong competitors including Blackstone-supported Simplilearn as well as upGrad. The acquisition will also help increase BJYU’s offerings for the global markets.
According to filings, the ed-tech company will purchase 25.83 lakh Great Learning Education Pte. Ltd. ordinary shares, for exchange of its roughly $98 million Series F shares, which have been allotted to Matrix Benefit Trust and LMK Holdings Ltd, existing shareholders of Great Learning.
Furthermore, BYJU’s will also offer nearly 17,036 Series F preference shares, worth roughly $57.2 million, on the higher end of the price spectrum, to the existing shareholders of Toppr, which include Learn 2 Holdings Ltd, FH Learn LLP, Kaizen PE, founder of Livspace - Ramakant Sharma, Alteria Capital, Eight Roads, and Helion Venture Partners.
With the Toppr acquisition, BYJU’s will be able to consolidate and enhance its position in the K-12 learning market. The company faces tough competition in the segment, in the form of Vedantu, backed by Tiger Global, and Unacademy, backed by Softbank.
BYJU’s latest announcement comes along the heels of the recently proposed $500 million acquisition of U.S-based online reading platform for children, Epic, as part of its ongoing efforts to expand its education service portfolio beyond India and across segments.