Veranda Learning to acquire test-preparation institute chain TIME for Rs 287 crore

Bengaluru: Chennai-based Veranda Learning Solutions, which recently made its public market debut on Indian stock exchanges, said on Monday that it had signed an agreement to acquire test-preparation institute chain, TIME, for Rs 287 crore.
The acquisition will be in phases, with Veranda taking over 80% of the outstanding capital along with management control in the first phase, it said in a statement.

The next phase will include the purchase of the remaining 20% at the end of two years, subject to the fulfilment of closing conditions.

Founded in 1992, Hyderabad-based TIME is known for test preparation courses for MBA aspirants and test takers of the Common Admission Test (CAT). At present, it has a pan-India presence and operates 188 centres, including franchisees, across 98 cities in India.

It said it has trained around 2.2 million students since inception, with a run rate of training almost 110,000 students every year. It also offers its CAT test series - AimCat - with 37,000 unique test takers for the course.

“The acquisition of T.I.M.E. allows Veranda to expand its national footprint with an asset that is known to have sent around 50% of all students admitted into the IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management),” said Kalpathi Suresh, executive director and chairman, Veranda.

TIME also offers training programmes for national and state-level entrance exams including Management Aptitude Test (MAT), Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), as well as international exams like Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), among others.

The company also has a chain of pre-schools under the TIME Kids brand and operates through 222 pre-schools in 56 cities.

“Our experience and strengths combined with the background of technology and franchising business of the promoters of Veranda will surely create superior value to large segments of the student community,” said Pramod Kumar, founder and director of TIME, in a statement.

With the acquisition, Veranda has also diversified into the pre-school and the language training space.