Ranjan Pai’s stake buy in Byju's Aakash Educational Services gets CCI green signal

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Tuesday approved the acquisition of a significant stake in test prep platform Aakash Educational Services Limited by Manipal Health Systems Pvt Ltd and MEMG Family Office LLP by converting debt into equity.

The board of Byju’s-owned Aakash Institute earlier approved the conversion into equity of the $300 million Ranjan Pai, chairman of Manipal Education and Medical Group, invested in January 2024.

ET had earlier reported that Pai had started distancing himself from the dispute between troubled edtech firm Byju’s and its investors and focussed on protecting his investments across Byju’s group companies.

On April 6, Pai had moved the Singapore Arbitration Council over a $42-million loan sanctioned to Think and Learn, the parent of Byju’s.

Think and Learn had acquired the brick-and-mortar coaching chain for $950 million in 2021.

On April 8, Aakash Institute appointed Deepak Mehrotra as its managing director and chief executive officer.

On March 28, ET had reported that the company had dropped plans for the possible return of cofounder Aakash Chaudhry.

Aakash Institute offers coaching classes and material for medical and engineering school entrance tests such as NEET and IIT-JEE. It also offers Olympiad and NTSE and a basic classroom curriculum for school students.

The test prep platform reported an 82% rise in total profit to Rs 79.5 crore for the financial year ended March 2022. Its operating revenue for the year grew 45% to Rs 1,421 crore.