After acquiring Epic, a digital reading platform for kids, for $500 million (about Rs 3,729.8 crore) last week, Byju's has acquired Toppr-after-school learning app, and Singapore-headquartered Great Learning--an upskilling platforms for professionals and higher education, according to regulatory filings filed by the company.
The filings show that the acquisition involved a mix of cash and equity. Shareholders of Great Learning and Toppr have swapped their respective shares with Byju’s Series F shares.
Byju’s is expected to pay $600 million to acquire Great Learning and $150 million for the acquisition of Toppr, said an individual close to the discussions, a report in LiveMint said.
The company has also earmarked an additional $400 million of investment in the professional and higher education segment to accelerate Great Learning's growth, a statement said.
"The acquisition marks Byju's strong push into the professional upskilling and life-long learning space globally with a total commitment of $1 billion, expanding its offerings beyond the K12 and test prep segments, and further accelerating the company's growth plans," it added.
Great Learning will continue to operate as an independent unit under Byju's group under the leadership of its founder and CEO Mohan Lakhamraju and co-founders, Hari Nair and Arjun Nair.
Byju's has been on an acquisition spree for some time now. With the latest two acquisition, India's most-valued startup has acquired six startups in 2021, across India and the US. It has acquired Aakash Educational Services, WhiteHat Jr and Osmo. Earlier this week, the company announced acquisition of California-based reading platform Epic for $500 million (about Rs 3,729.8 crore), thereby expanding its footprints across the US market.
