Chennai-based Veranda Learning Solutions Ltd. will enter the capital market with an initial public offering (IPO) on March 29 to raise ₹200 crore for debt service and growth initiatives. The company will use approximately £60m for debt repayments, £25m for Edureka’s acquisition cost or to repay a bridge loan taken out for it, £50m for growth initiatives and £65m for general corporate purposes.
The company has set the price range for its IPO at ₹130 to ₹137 per share with a par value of ₹10. Bids can be made for a minimum of 100 shares and thereafter in multiples of 100 shares.
Approximately 75% of the offering is reserved for qualified institutional buyers, 15% for non-institutional buyers and 10% for retail investors. The shares are listed on the BSE or NSE.
Veranda Learning provides students, aspirants, graduates, professionals and corporate employees with integrated learning solutions in online, offline-hybrid and offline-mixed formats through competitive exams, professional courses, exam-based courses, short-term professional development and retraining courses.
As part of its expansion plans, the company would offer competitive exam courses in more native languages and bring vertical software training (Edureka) to more regions. Competitive exam courses are currently available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, said Kalpathi S. Suresh, ED Chair.
When asked about the company’s finances, he said: “This is the year of investments. All of these investments have been made with the future in mind. And you will start to see the benefits of that starting in the next fiscal year. From there, over the next 3-5 years, you will see us as an aggressively growing company with a clear view of profitability.”
He further explained that Veranda Learning Solutions has made investments to expand its content portfolio across multiple vernaculars, expanded its footprint to 25 locations in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and invested in building or optimizing its technology platforms to go hybrid offline in the software industry walk.
