Aakash IPO: Byju's to make its test preparatory arm public in 2024

India's leading education tech startup, Byju's, is planning to launch the initial public offering (IPO) of its test preparatory arm Aakash Education Services Limited by the middle of 2024, the company announced on Monday.

The company in its statement announced that Aakash Education Services Limited (AESL) revenue is set to reach ₹4,000 crore with an EBITDA (operational profit) of ₹900 crore in the fiscal year 2023-23.

The official sanction for the IPO launch was also given by the board of Byju's. The statement also laid out the timeline of the plan and said that the appointment of the merchant bankers for the IPO will be announced soon to carry forward the listing process.

Two years ago, Byju's acquired AESL for about $950 million, or about ₹7,100 crore, in April 2021. Aakash's profit zoomed after the acquisition significantly in last two years. Its profits increased by three times.

There are positive predictions on the growth of test-prep market revenues in the coming time. 

According to Ken Research, test-prep market revenues are predicted to grow at a compoun annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3 per cent over 2020-25.

The boost in the sector was led by the online test preparation segment which is estimated to increase at a CAGR of 42.3 per cent over the same duration.