BYJU's acquires learning app Toppr and upskilling platform Great Learning - Moneycontrol.com

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Edtech unicorn BYJU’s on July 25 announced that it has acquired after-school learning app Toppr and upskilling platform Great Learning, in a cash and stock deal.

With the new acquisition, BYJU’s has acquired six startups in 2021, across India and the US, the firm said in a regulatory filing.

India’s most valuable startup is expected to spend $600 million to acquire Great Learning and another $150 million for the acquisition of Toppr, says media reports.

ALSO READ: Byju’s acquires US-based reading startup Epic for $500m

Until now, BYJU's has already spent over $2.2 billion in acquiring complementary businesses in 2021 alone. With the Great Learning's acquisition, BYJU's would now enter the upskilling and reskilling segment.

This section has already tough competitors including upGrad and Blackstone-backed Simplilearn. Following the acquisition, BYJU's offerings for the international markets is expected to increase.

Filings show that BYJU’s will be acquiring 25.83 lakh ordinary shares in Great Learning Education Pte. Ltd. for exchange of its Series F shares worth Rs 733.1 crore (or roughly $98 million), which have been allotted to Great Learning’s existing shareholders LMK Holdings Ltd. and Matrix Benefit Trust.

Among other details, BYJU’s will be offering 17,036 Series F preference shares worth Rs 425.9 crore (or roughly $57.2 million), on the higher end of the price band, to Toppr’s existing shareholders including - Helion Venture Partners, Eight Roads, Alteria Capital, Ramakant Sharma - founder of Livspace; Kaizen PE, FH Learn LLP, and Learn 2 Holdings Ltd.

With BYJU's acquisition in Toppr, it would help the edtech firm consolidate and improve its market position in the K-12 learning segment. In the segment BYJU face touch competition from Softbank-backed Unacademy and Tiger Global-backed Vedantu.

The latest acquisition by BYJU's comes a week after it announced $500 million to acquire US-based Epic -- an online reading platform for kids -- by continuing its spree of large acquisitions to expand its education services beyond the Indian market and across categories.

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BYJU's acquires learning app Toppr and upskilling platform Great Learning - Moneycontrol.com
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