Veranda Learning freezes at 10% upper circuit; up 67% against issue price

In the past two days, the stock has rallied 15% after the company signed a definitive agreement to acquire T.I.M.E. (Advanced Educational Activities Pvt Ltd) for a consideration of Rs 287 crore

Shares of recently listed Veranda Learning Solutions were locked at the 10 per cent upper circuit at Rs 229, also its new high on the BSE, on Wednesday as against a 0.64 per cent dip in the S&P BSE Sensex. The market price of Veranda Learning has zoomed 67 per cent relative to its issue price of Rs 137 per share on the BSE.

Veranda Learning, which offers online and offline coaching services for a variety of courses, had made stock market debut on April 11, 2022. In the past two days, the stock has rallied 15 per cent after the company signed a definitive agreement to acquire T.I.M.E. (Advanced Educational Activities Pvt Ltd) for a consideration of Rs 287 crore.

"This 100 per cent acquisition will be in a phased manner with 80 per cent of the outstanding capital along with management control in phase 1, followed by the purchase of the remaining 20 per cent at the end of two years (subject to the fulfillment of closing conditions)," Veranda said in a press release.

The acquisition of T.I.M.E. allows Veranda to expand its national footprint with an asset that has known to have sent around 50 per cent of all students admitted into the IIMs.

T.I.M.E., which was one of the pioneers of online testing methodology in India, also gets to leverage Veranda's core-engineering skills to make it the best in hybrid offering which will now include best-in-class products for each of its programmes, the management said.

Veranda Learning Solutions offers a bouquet of training programs for competitive exam preparation, including State Public Service Commission, Banking, Insurance, Railways, IAS and CA, as well as a slew of professional skilling and upskilling programmes in trending technologies.

The company offers diversified and integrated learning solutions in online, offline hybrid and offline blended formats to students, aspirants, graduates, professionals and corporate employees through multitude of career-defining competitive exams, professional courses, exam-oriented courses, short term upskilling and reskilling courses.