Pai in the Sky: Ranjan to own 40% of Aakash
Ranjan Pai, chairman of Manipal Education and Medical Group, is set to emerge as the largest shareholder in Byju’s-owned Aakash Institute, with a 40% stake, people aware of the matter said.
The Aakash board has approved the conversion into equity of the $300 million Pai invested during 2023, they added. This values the company — one of the remaining valuable assets for Byju Raveendran’s troubled edtech group — at around $700 million and renders it debt-free.
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Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIndian School of BusinessISB Professional Certificate in Product ManagementVisitIIT DelhiIITD Certificate Programme in Data Science & Machine LearningVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Product ManagementVisitByju’s parent Think & Learn acquired the brick-and-mortar coaching chain for $950 million in 2021, in one of the largest acquisitions of the Indian internet sector.
An email sent to Aakash Institute didn’t elicit a response till press time on Wednesday. Pai and Raveendran declined to comment.
Additional Board Seats
ET was first to report in October last year about Pai’s plans to write a larger-than-expected cheque for the offline coaching company.
The MEMG chairman will now have firm control over crown jewel Aakash while Byju’s grapples with a series of crises arising from governance lapses.
“The board has approved the conversion, and Pai is now the largest shareholder. He has been closely involved with Raveendran in sorting out the Davidson Kempner debt issue and other matters too,” a person briefed on the matter said, adding that the ‘Pai factor’ will be “critical for the fate of both — Aakash as well as Byju’s.”
Pai invested close to $200 million in Aakash Institute
