American private equity major Blackstone announced on Monday that it is all set to acquire a majority stake in the edtech firm Simplilearn. This acquisition marks the growing M&A deals in the edtech space that has witnessed frenetic activities since last year’s pandemic. The acquisition deal’s financial details have not been disclosed. Reports, however, suggest that the PE major will be investing $250 Mn for acquiring stake in the Bengaluru-based startup at a valuation of $400 Mn.
The development comes barely months after Blackstone offloaded its stake in Akash Tutorial and sold to Byju’s. This deal, which was valued at around $1 Bn, was the most expensive acquisition deal in India’s startup industry.
Simplilearn’s acquisition spells good news for all its existing investors. Its existing investors that include high-profile names like Kalaari, Helion and Mayfield Fund will reportedly make profitable exits. According to reports, these investors will make an exit with 6 to 15 times higher than their initial investment. These investors, as per reports, had made a cumulative investment of $28 Mn and boost a combined stake of 57% in the Bengaluru-based company.
Reports further claim that Simplilearn’s founder Krishna Kumar will hold down to its stake.
It is also worth noting that the deal marks Blackstone’s maiden investment in consumer technology in the Asia Pacific region. Blackstone currently has approximately $50 Bn AUM in India and owns a stake in IT major Mhapsis.
Simplilearn claims that it has been profitable for several consecutive years. However, Techpluto could not ascertain these claims independently.
Simplilearn was founded in 2010 with an aim to provide boot camp classes in the field of cybersecurity, cloud computing, project management, data science and many other subjects. It offers these courses in collaboration with several global universities.
Commenting on the acquisition, Krishna Kumar, Founder & CEO, Simplilearn, said “We are excited to partner with Blackstone, a globally recognized investor with a strong track record in the ed-tech sector. We believe Blackstone can add significant value to our company because of their scale, commitment to building businesses, and global network, which will enable us to develop partnerships with businesses and universities as Simplilearn continues to expand around the world. We would also like to thank our previous investors, Kalaari Capital, Helion Venture Partners and Mayfield Fund for their undaunted support and trust in our journey of becoming a market leader.”
