Byju’s plans to acquire edtech rival Toppr in a USD 150 million deal

• The news of this deal comes along the heels of Byju’s acquisition deal with Aakash Educational Services, valued over USD 1 billion
• The companies held talks over the past two months and the deal will be soon finalized, a report said  

Byju’s, the largest edtech company of India, is reportedly set to acquire rival company Toppr in a deal valued at nearly USD 150 million. Sources with knowledge of the matter have mentioned that the two companies held talks for couple of months and stated that this deal will soon be finalized.

This acquisition news comes at a time when the Indian edtech giant has apparently signed a deal to acquire Aakash Educational Services, an offline test prep company backed by Blackstone, for a reported value of USD 1 billion.

A spokesperson from Byju’s declined to comment, while the CEO of Toppr, Zishaan Hayath, also declined to answer any queries regarding this deal.

Byju’s is currently the largest edtech company in India, and is aiming to strengthen its market position with such acquisitions. In fact, last year, Byju’s completed the acquisition of WhiteHat Jr., a child-friendly coding platform, for USD 300 million.

As per the report, the recent acquisition deal would largely be completed in cash transactions, with some equity. This is similar to the all-cash deal done by Byju’s while acquiring WhiteHat Jr.

With the onset of the pandemic, the edtech sector has grown at an outstanding pace. Bolstered by quick rounds of funding and surging valuations, smaller rivals like Vedantu and Unacademy are making plans to acquire emerging market players to expand their business in the same way as Byju’s.

The company is currently valued at USD 12 billion and has raised over USD 1 billion in 2020. It claims to record revenues valued at around Rs. 2,800 crores in FY20. Byju’s had a free user base of 40 million on its online platform prior to the pandemic, and has added over 20 million users in the last year.

Source Credits:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/byjus-set-to-buy-rival-toppr-for-150-million-report/articleshow/80926803.cms