Kedaara Capital Acquires Minority Stake In K12 Techno Services Pvt. Ltd According to an official statement, the transaction will also provide a partial exit to Peak XV
By Teena Jose
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Private equity player Kedaara Capital has reportedly signed a fat cheque for a significant minority stake in K12 Techno Services Pvt. Ltd, which runs the chain of Orchids International Schools. According to an official statement, the transaction will also provide a partial exit to Peak XV (erstwhile Sequoia Capital India), one of K12's existing institutional investors.
"India has over 260 million students enrolled in the K-12 segment, that aspire for accessible, and holistic education. K12 Techno has helped schools bridge this gap by leveraging technology and process orientation," said Sunish Sharma, founder and managing partner, Kedaara Capital.
While the monetary particulars of the transaction weren't disclosed by the events, two folks conscious of the event told VCCircle that Kedaara could have invested INR 1,300-1,500 crore ($156-180 million) in the Bengaluru-based Okay-12 college operator.
K12 Techno Services was incorporated in March 2010 by M. Venkatanarayana and his son M.S.C. Srikanth to provide education services to state board schools under Sri Gowtham Academy of General and Technical Education.
In 2016, the promoters exited the company, and it was acquired by Sequoia Capital and Navneet Learning. Under the new management, the company provides management services to ICSE and CBSE curriculum schools from kindergarten to X-XII, based in large metros like Bengaluru and Mumbai under the 'Orchid, The International School' brand.
While Navneet and Sequoia have been investors for almost a decade, Sofina came in 2020 with an investment of INR 199.4 crore. In 2021, SoftBank-backed Unacademy invested INR 159.9 crore (around $20 million) in the company.
The private equity firm raised about $1.1 billion for its third fund in 2021 and has invested about $600 million across six companies so far, leaving about $500 million to be deployed across four to six companies, noted the company in the statement.
