Blackstoneinvests$250mninsimplilearn
Blackstone to acquire a majority stake in Simplilearn; deal to take edtech firm’s valuation to $400 mn
NEW DELHI: Simplilearn Solutions on Monday said Blackstone will acquire a majority stake in the edutech company for $250 million (about ₹1,860 crore).
The Blackstone funding values Simplilearn at $400 million. India’s edtech space is seeing a lot of funding and M&AS, with the pandemic accelerating the need for online education delivery, and the need for a variety of digital skills and certifications.
Private equity funds managed by Blackstone have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Simplilearn Solutions, a statement said.
Simplilearn founder and chief executive officer Krishna
Kumar said Blackstone is investing $250 million in the company.
The previous investors— Kalaari Capital, Helion Venture Partners and Mayfield Fund— have exited now, but the management of Simplilearn remains the same and their stake will also remain unaffected, he told PTI.
Details of the quantum of the stake being bought and valuation of Simplilearn were not disclosed.
Simplilearn was founded in 2010 and the company has been profitable for the fourth year in a row.
The platform offers over 100 programmes to help early to mid-career professionals acquire new-age digital skills across cloud, Devops, data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, digital marketing, cybersecurity and others.
More than two million professionals globally have used Simplilearn to date.
“The pandemic has only accelerated the need for digital skills and the industry has demonstrated absolute readiness for upskilling online. Hence, this is the most opportune time to take the next big leap in our journey to build the world’s largest digital skilling company,” Kumar said.
Blackstone can add significant value to the company because of its scale, commitment to building businesses, and global network that will enable Simplilearn to develop partnerships with businesses and universities as it continues to expand globally, he added.
“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,” he said.
Amit Dixit, head of Asia for Blackstone Private Equity, said this is Blackstone’s first private equity investment in Asia in a consumer technology company.
“Like many other sectors, technology is disrupting education and education technology has been a high conviction theme for Blackstone in India and globally...we are excited to partner with Krishna Kumar and Simplilearn’s top-notch management team to accelerate growth and build the world’s pre-eminent digital learning company, and we expect this to be the first of many such investments in Asia,” he added.
Earlier this year, Blackstonebacked Aakash Education Services, which runs tutorial centres across the country, was acquired by Byju’s in a cashand-stock deal estimated at $950 million.
Last week, edtech startup Vedantu said it acquired a majority stake in Ai-enabled personalised learning platform Pedagogy. It did not disclose the terms of the investment.