Veranda Learning acquires CA coaching major JK Shah

CHENNAI: EdTech firm Veranda Learning Solutions is making inroads into the Chartered Accountancy (CA) coaching. The publicly listed company said it has signed an agreement to acquire JK Shah Education through its wholly owned subsidiary Veranda XL Learning Solutions. The transaction will be completed in two phases with the first phase seeing Veranda acquire 76% of the stake for Rs 337.82 crore, and the remaining in 2025. The entire transaction will be funded through a combination of debt and equity, Veranda said. "We have an 'extension and expansion' strategy with this acquisition. We will help JK Shah expand to 300-350 significant locations with an intent to make them as strong as they are in Maharashtra, nationally. We will also leverage our in-house digital strength to make them the best online CA coaching platform," Kalpathi S. Suresh, chairman and executive director, Veranda Learning Solutions, told TOI.Veranda said it will not be changing anything on the operational front, with professor J. K. Shah continuing as chairman and guiding the growth and strategy of the company. Pooja Shah and Vishal Shah will continue to lead the day-to-day operations as chief operating officers.JK Shah classes has been a pioneer in coaching CAs, Company Secretaries, and Chartered Management Accountants (CMA) aspirants in India and currently operates through 75 centres located across 39 Indian cities and is headquartered in Mumbai. It holds a track record of having produced 1,870 CA rankers since 2001 and 214 CS Rankers since 2016. Some notable alumni include Kumar Mangalam Birla, minister Piyush Goyal, and Nilesh Shah of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company.InCredMAPE and KPMG were the buy side advisors while InCorp Advisory was the sell side advisor for this deal.