CCI Unconditionally Approves Manipal Group’s Participation In Aakash’s Rights Issue

Combination Registration No. C-2026/02/1388, Manipal Health Systems Private Limited (‘MHSPL’) and Aakash Educational Services Limited (‘Aakash’)

Proposed Transaction

MHSPL and the other Manipal group acquirers are present in the education sector through UNext Learning Pvt. Ltd. and its affiliates MeriTrac Services and Jigsaw Academy. Aakash offers coaching for classes 1 to 8, preparation for scholarship and merit-based entrance tests including olympiads and national talent search examinations, coaching for classes 9 and 10, and science stream coaching for classes 11 and 12, under the ‘Aakash’ brand and through a single subsidiary, Aakash Edutech Private Limited.

Readers of last month’s edition will recall the CCI’s second gun-jumping penalty on the Manipal group, imposed for closing an acquisition of a further shareholding in Aakash without prior notification and approval. On June 3, 2026, the CCI approved a further increase, this time notified: a rights issue by Aakash to all