Veranda Learning to acquire JK Shah Education, wants to expand to 400 locations

Edtech firm Veranda Learning Solutions said it has signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of JK Shah Education through its subsidiary Veranda XL Learning Solutions for Rs 338 crore. The entire transaction will be funded through a combination of debt and equity.

“The equity component will be Rs 200 crore. This is part of the fundraise that the company just completed a few days ago. The balance is coming from debt,” Kalpathi S Suresh, Chairman and ED at Veranda Learning Solutions told CNBC-TV18.

JK Shah Classes has a strong track record of producing 1,870 CA rankers since 2001 and some of their notable alumni include Kumar Mangalam Birla, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Nilesh Shah of Kotak Mahindra AMC.

Suresh said Veranda is aligning with JK Shah to be the accelerator and the enabler of their plans. The plan is to expand JK Shah from the current 68 locations where it exists to 350-400 locations in India over the next three years, he told CNBC-TV18.

“Make them as big as they are in Maharashtra, in the top 15 states in the country. The second one is to make the best online CA platform in India,” he added.

The third area of focus will be to extend JK Shah’s content and expertise of dominance in the CA education industry from company secretary to cost accountant to CPA, to possibly B.Com and M.Com supplementary education, he said.

For 2021-2022 fiscal, JK Shah Education’s margins were about Rs 30 crore, and for FY23, it is expected to clock about Rs 35 crore. JK Shah Education business is a zero-debt business and has got Rs 70 crore cash on its books.