We have written about valuing an Indian K-12 or higher-ed institution, why private equity is buying school chains and how such deals are structured. The next question is always the same: what multiple do Indian schools sell at? This note sets out what has been publicly disclosed as of 7 October 2026 and why none of it should be quoted on its own.
Why One Multiple Misleads
Two July 2026 deals put numbers on Indian school valuations. Lighthouse Learning, which is KKR-backed, was reported to be acquiring Pathways School Gurgaon for about Rs 1,500 crore. Vitruvian Partners invested about Rs 1,159 crore in K12 Techno Services, which runs the Orchids brand, in a round Business Standard says valued the company at around Rs 7,200 crore (Business Standard, 22 Jul 2026). The Times of India report on Pathways estimates EBITDA at about Rs 110 crore and puts the deal at around 13 times EV/EBITDA, citing unnamed sources; Lighthouse has not published financials. The K12 Techno reports give no EBITDA, so that deal carries no EBITDA multiple.
The wider record is thin. GSI Education's international directory lists 207 entries, of which 35 carry a party-published value and 140 never disclosed a price (GSI directory, updated 24 Sep 2026). A GSI article says exactly one completed acquisition of operating schools discloses both price and EBITDA on party-published evidence (GSI, 27 Aug 2026). The two pages count different entries, so the figures should not be combined; and GSI covers international deals, not India.
Three things make one quoted multiple unsafe:
- The numerators differ: equity values, enterprise values, and rounds that mix new money with secondary sales.
- The denominators differ: revenue, EBITDA before lease costs and EBITDA after lease costs.
- The assets differ: a premium owner-operator, a preschool franchisor and an asset-light manager are different businesses.
The lease point matters in India. PhysicsWallah's consolidated Q1 FY27 EBITDA was a profit of Rs 52 crore under Ind AS 116, a loss of Rs 44 crore before Ind AS 116, and Rs 135 crore on an adjusted basis (YourStory, 14 Aug 2026). PhysicsWallah is test-prep, not a school operator, but one quarter produced three EBITDA figures.
The Disclosed Datapoints
Labels: Reported means a named outlet published the figure; derived means our arithmetic on reported inputs, shown in the cell; aggregator means a database or summary page, not the original article or filing.
| Deal | Date | Reported value and what is disclosed | Derived figure | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lighthouse Learning (KKR-backed) / Pathways School Gurgaon | First reported 9 Jul 2026 | About Rs 1,500 crore. Times of India: EBITDA "estimated at Rs 110 crore"; deal "reportedly sealed at around 13 times" estimated EV/EBITDA, per unnamed sources. Revenue and stake not disclosed. | Rs 1,500 crore / Rs 110 crore = 13.6x (derived; the report says "around 13 times"). Whether Rs 1,500 crore is enterprise value or price is not stated. | Reported estimate, not a company disclosure. Single-source (Times of India, unnamed insiders). |
| K12 Techno Services (Orchids) / Vitruvian Partners | First reported 9 Jul 2026 | Rs 1,159 crore for "near 16%"; Rs 150 crore primary. FY25 operating income about Rs 376 crore; FY25 net loss about Rs 58 crore. No EBITDA. (Venture Intelligence, SaaSRise) | Rs 1,159 crore / 16% = about Rs 7,244 crore (derived). / FY25 operating income Rs 376 crore = 19.3x. / FY25 total revenue Rs 402.9 crore (Inc42 Datalabs) = 18.0x. All on equity value, not EV. No EBITDA multiple. | Reported and derived. Single-source; aggregators citing Mint. |
| EuroKids / KKR | Aug 2019 | Rs 1,400 crore for "around 90%" (Business Standard); Rs 1,475 crore for 90% (The Ken). Revenue "most recently around Rs 450 crore" (year not stated). No EBITDA. | Rs 1,400 crore / 90% = Rs 1,556 crore; / Rs 450 crore = 3.5x. Rs 1,475 crore / 90% = Rs 1,639 crore; / Rs 450 crore = 3.6x (derived revenue multiples). | Reported and derived. Sources conflict on price and stake (another report gives 92% and USD 277m). Preschool franchisor. |
| Varsity Education Management / New Silk Route | Not stated | Rs 1,100 crore for 28%, a sale back to promoters; implied value "close to" Rs 4,000 crore; investor reported a 3x return. No revenue or EBITDA. (Venture Intelligence) | Rs 1,100 crore / 28% = about Rs 3,929 crore (derived). No multiple. | Reported. Single-source. |
| Globetrotters (Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur) / Blackstone | 18 Nov 2025 | $150-200m, basis not clear from the report. "Advanced talks" for a majority stake; no revenue or EBITDA; completion unconfirmed. (MarketScreener) | None. | Reported. Single-source. Talks only. |
| Globeducate / Wendel and Providence (international) | Announced 1 Jul 2024 | EV c.EUR 2bn including IFRS 16, c.EUR 1.86bn excluding. FY25e EBITDA c.EUR 120m including, c.EUR 96m excluding. (Wendel release) | EUR 2,000m / 120m = 16.7x including IFRS 16 (Wendel’s release says c.17x). EUR 1,860m / 96m = 19.4x excluding. Both on estimated forward EBITDA. | International. Issuer release; multiples as GSI prints them. |
| ISP (international) | May 2021 | EV EUR 1.9bn; EBITDA about EUR 100m, as GSI lists it. | EUR 1,900m / 100m = 19.0x ("about 19x" per GSI). | International. As listed by GSI. |
Pathways. The Times of India (Hemali Chhapia) says Pathways School is "in the process of being acquired" by Lighthouse for about Rs 1,500 crore, and that the school's EBITDA is estimated at Rs 110 crore, with the deal "reportedly sealed at around 13 times" estimated EV/EBITDA. The figures come from unnamed sources and an industry insider, so treat 13x as a reported estimate. Reports on completion are inconsistent: Business Standard says Lighthouse "agreed to acquire", Elets says "set to acquire", and Whalesbook says Lighthouse "has acquired" the campus. The same report describes a single campus of about 1,600 students and quotes a source saying the school was set up as a company, not a trust or society, which is probably why the owner could make such a large ask. Our view: a multiple that rests on estimated EBITDA and a possibly unclosed deal is a data point to test in diligence, not a benchmark to quote.
K12 Techno. The multiples rest on FY25 figures, which are a year old; we leave out a single-source FY26 figure that we could not corroborate. Inc42 Datalabs shows FY25 revenue down 10% on FY24, so the base year matters. Other caveats: "near 16%" is approximate; the Rs 1,159 crore mixes Rs 150 crore primary with about Rs 1,009 crore secondary (Business Standard describes the deal differently, as Vitruvian acquiring Peak XV’s stake); and operating income is not audited revenue.
International and Listed Reference Points
International. We show two EBITDA-based international precedents, ISP (2021) and Globeducate (2024); GSI lists others. GSI's own warning applies: "No cross-deal comparison in this sector is valid without stating the treatment." Nord Anglia's 2017 take-private at $4.3bn (PIE News) and 2025 sale at $14.5bn (EQT) carried no EBITDA or multiple in the article and release cited. Our view: these are large premium platforms and do not transfer to a single Indian school.
Listed Indian companies. None is a school operator; they are publishers, skilling and coaching businesses. Figures use screener.in inputs. Market caps are spot values (26 Sep to 6 Oct 2026), balance sheets are at 31 March 2026, EBITDA is FY26 operating profit, net debt is approximate (borrowings less investments or cash, as available), and money columns are Rs crore.
| Company | Market cap | FY26 EBITDA | Approx. net debt | EV/EBITDA (derived) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navneet Education | 2,717 | 270 | 108 - 1,138 = -1,030 (or 108 - 975 = -867 on a narrower investments figure) | (2,717 - 1,030) / 270 = 6.2x; (2,717 - 867) / 270 = 6.9x; gross debt (2,717 + 108) / 270 = 10.5x |
| S Chand and Company | 496 | 145 | 136 - 105 = 31 | (496 + 31) / 145 = 3.6x |
| Aptech | 505 | 32 | 13 - 2 = 11 | (505 + 11) / 32 = 16.1x |
| NIIT Learning Systems | 2,803 | 372 | 318 - 531 = -213 | (2,803 - 213) / 372 = 7.0x; gross debt (2,803 + 318) / 372 = 8.4x |
Three of the four sit between 3.6x and 7.0x; Aptech's 16.1x sits on a thin base (operating margin about 6%). Navneet's range reflects uncertainty over its investments (Rs 975 crore or Rs 1,138 crore), so we show both.
Elevate Campuses listed on 30 September 2026. It is mainly a student-accommodation platform, with 18 schools (Business Today). About 52% of its fresh-issue proceeds (Rs 1,100 crore of Rs 2,100 crore) buys K-12 entities and campuses from promoter-group subsidiaries (abridged prospectus). Its FY26 EBITDA of Rs 545 crore includes other income (about Rs 35 crore, our arithmetic) and equals 95.8% of revenue from operations. Our view: that is not school economics, so we compute no multiple for it.
What Drives the Gap
- Accounting basis. Lease treatment moved Globeducate by 2.7 turns and PhysicsWallah's EBITDA across zero.
- Perimeter. Stake size, primary versus secondary money, and equity value versus EV.
- Asset model. The Ken reports that at K12 Techno the owners keep the building and payroll while K12 takes over management, under 50-year contracts (single-source). That is a different asset from an owned campus.
- Maturity. The same article quotes a senior K12 executive on about 12 years for a school to break even.
- Fee rules. Business Standard says fee increases are subject to competition and, in many states, regulation. NewsBytes says several states cap how much fees a school can raise each year, and Finshots calls it a highly sensitive political issue.
- Who sets the price. Varsity was a sale back to promoters, and Elevate buys from promoter-group companies. Related-party prices are negotiated, not discovered.
How to Value a School
- Settle structure and affiliation before any model. Confirm which entity holds the land, affiliation and fee income, and whether a clean transfer route exists. Legal and governance diligence comes before valuation work, as our PE article notes; see also Section 8 company, trust or society.
- Normalise EBITDA. Replace promoter and family salaries with market-rate management cost, reset related-party rent, strip one-off income.
- Value PropCo and OpCo separately. Value the real estate on a comparable-sales or yield basis, and the OpCo on its earnings after market rent. See how foreign investors structure education deals. Institutional land is also a distinct asset class with its own scarcity and zoning rules.
- Fix one lease basis. State whether EBITDA and EV include Ind AS 116 or IFRS 16 lease effects, and apply the same basis to the target and every comparable.
- Place the school on its maturity curve. A young, half-full campus and a mature, full one should not share a multiple.
- Apply a fee-regulation haircut. Model fee growth at the state cap or competitive ceiling, whichever is lower, with a frozen-fee downside.
- Price affiliation and trust-structure risk, then give a range. State the assumptions. A single point estimate invites a single quoted multiple.
What Buyers and Sellers Should Do
Sellers: prepare a normalised EBITDA bridge with evidence for each adjustment, separate the real estate from the operating business early, and resolve affiliation, title and approval gaps first.
Buyers: ask what accounting basis any quoted multiple uses before comparing it. Treat press-reported values as unverified until the seller's numbers support them, underwrite fee growth at the regulated rate rather than the school's history, and do not benchmark against listed publishers or foreign platforms without adjusting for scale and lease treatment. Do not borrow a multiple from another sector: see hospital chains versus school chains.
Questions for qualified legal counsel (we work alongside counsel on these points):
- Which entity can lawfully hold the land, receive fees and sign management contracts for this school?
- CBSE's “Role of Society” document, which refers to the Affiliation Bye-Laws, 2018 (clauses 9.1.3 and 9.1.4), says the school must be "run as a community service and not as a business" and that funds are "spent for the benefit of the same school". Is this current, and how does it bear on rent and fee flows to a related PropCo or ManCo?
- Section 6(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Self-Financed Independent Schools (Fee Regulation) Act, 2018, as published on a case-law site, says not more than fifteen per cent of a school's total income in a financial year may be transferred to an eligible educational entity as development fund. Is that current, and do management or royalty fees count as such transfers?
Considering a sale, or testing a target's valuation?
We build a value from the school's own normalised numbers, not a quoted multiple. MAS Advisory is partner-led, start to finish.
Indicative only, not a valuation: every transaction's value depends on facts not covered here, some figures rest on press reports and aggregators rather than filings, legal points are questions for counsel, and nothing here is tax advice. Basis of figures: reported figures are as published by the named outlet, aggregator or issuer; derived figures are our arithmetic on those inputs (implied value is price divided by stake; enterprise value is market cap plus approximate net debt; K12 Techno and EuroKids multiples are on revenue or operating income, not EBITDA); listed figures pair spot market caps with full-year FY26 EBITDA from screener.in; international figures are issuer or GSI-published and rest on differing lease bases. Data are current to 7 October 2026.