Essel Group’s education unit Zee Learn on Thursday said that it is acquiring a controlling stake in MT Educare Ltd for Rs200 crore.
In a stock exchange filing, Zee Learn said that it has signed a definitive agreement to invest Rs200 crore in MT Educare through a preferential allotment for a 44.53% stake.
MT Educare, in a separate filing said that it will issue preferential shares to Zee Learn at Rs62.57 per share for this transaction.
Zee Learn has also made an open offer announcement to acquire an additional 26% in MT Educare from public shareholders.
As part of the open offer, Zee Learn will acquire 18.66 million shares at Rs72.76 per share, which will see the company spend approximately Rs135.80 crore.
Shares of MT Educare on Thursday reached an intra-day high of Rs73.3 apiece, before closing at Rs71.35, up 2.15% on BSE. Shares of Zee Learn rose 0.34% to close at Rs44.75, while the benchmark Sensex closed at 34,297.47, up 0.41%.
“The acquisition of MT Educare Ltd is aligned with our strategy to increase our footprint across segments in the education sector and consolidate our offerings through the digital route,” said Debshankar Mukhopadhyay, CEO of Zee Learn.
“This stake acquisition will strengthen our pre-school and K-12 offerings through Kidzee & Mount Litera Zee Schools respectively and will also mark our entry into the high-growth market of edutech through Robomate and test preparation/tutorials through other brands like Mahesh Tutorials, Lakshya and Chitale classes,” Mukhopadhyay added.
He also said the association will create high-value content and enrich the student experience by leveraging the strong experience of the academic teams of both companies.
In 2011, Zee Learn had announced its plans to acquire Mumbai-based Tree House Education & Accessories Ltd, which operates preschool chain Tree House. But the deal was finally called off in 2016.
Established in 1988, MT Educare provides education support and coaching services in schools across Maharashtra and has operations in other states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
MT Educare is backed by PE firms Kitara Capital, Helix Investment, BanyanTree Growth Capital and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Source: Mint