Aakash CFO Vipan Joshi Resigns as Rights Issue, Boardroom Fight Intensify

Vipan Joshi, chief financial officer of Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL), resigned effective 31 October, adding to a wave of senior-level exits at the test-prep and tutoring major as it presses ahead with a contentious rights issue, Mint reported.

Joshi, who had been at Aakash for more than nine years and was appointed CFO in October 2022, told contacts on LinkedIn last week that he was “taking a moment to reflect” and was “turning the page to a new chapter” after his departure.

The exit follows earlier senior departures, like chief executive Deepak Mehrotra stepped down in August and was replaced by Chandra Sekhar Reddy Garisa on 19 August. The succession and the CFO’s departure come at a sensitive moment for Aakash as it moves to raise fresh capital and navigate a bitter boardroom dispute tied to Byju’s and other shareholders.

Rights Issue & Legal Backdrop

Aakash’s proposed rights issue, a move the company says is needed to fund operations supporting roughly 3.5 lakh students and about 10,000 employees, has prompted legal challenges from creditors of Byju’s parent, Think & Learn.

Those challenges were rejected at the National Company Law Tribunal and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, and on 3 November the Supreme Court declined to interfere, effectively clearing the way for Aakash to proceed with the shareholder resolution and the formal offer process.

The proposed capital raise will substantially dilute the shareholding of Think & Learn (Byju’s parent), reducing its stake from about 25.75% to below 5%, a change that creditors argued could harm recoveries in Byju’s ongoing insolvency process. Aakash and its supporters counter that the raise is a routine commercial step to shore up the subsidiary’s finances and is independent of Byju’s insolvency proceedings.

Boardroom Tensions & Ownership Shifts

The company’s ownership has shifted sharply since Byju’s acquisition of Aakash in 2021 for roughly $950 million. Today, Ranjan Pai’s Manipal Education and Medical Group is the largest shareholder, holding around 58% after converting a $300 million debt stake into equity, and has moved to widen its position amid a dispute over proposed amendments to Aakash’s articles of association.

Private-equity investor Blackstone has pushed back against those changes, arguing they would dilute minority protections; that fight helped trigger the recent legal skirmishes.

Disclosure concerns

Aakash has also faced operational turbulence: reports surfaced last year of layoffs affecting around 80–100 employees, and the company has not filed audited annual reports for FY24 and FY25, raising governance and disclosure questions in some investor circles.

Registrar of Companies data cited by market reports show FY22 revenue of ₹1,421 crore, up 44% from FY21, with net profit of ₹79.5 crore for that period.

Key developments to monitor are the formal timetable and pricing for the rights issue, any further legal steps from GLAS Trust or Think & Learn’s resolution professional, the outcome of the boardroom negotiations over Aakash’s articles of association, and whether the company restores regular financial filings.