How big is your fancy Gurugram school, really?

When you drive through Gurugram’s school belt, every campus feels like its own world.

Pathways. Heritage. Early Learning Village.

Different names. Different positioning. Different parent communities.

But the more interesting question is: how big is the education business sitting behind the school name on the gate?

That question became harder to ignore in July 2026, when Lighthouse Learning was reported to have agreed to acquire Pathways School Gurgaon for about ₹1,500 crore.^[1][2]

Times of India reported that the single Gurugram campus has around 1,600 students, about 4.5 lakh sq ft of built-up space, average annual fees of nearly ₹10 lakh, and estimated EBITDA of about ₹110 crore.^[1] Those operating figures are reported estimates, not audited disclosures from Pathways.

Still, the deal value itself is striking.

One school. One campus. Roughly ₹1,500 crore.

And Pathways is not the beginning of the Gurugram story.

Pull back one layer

Lighthouse acquired the Heritage education business in 2023 and today lists Heritage among its K–12 brands.^[3]

In March 2026, Lighthouse also entered into a strategic partnership with Early Learning Village, the premium early-years school in Gurugram.^[4][5]

So if I look only at the names on the gates, I see separate schools.

If I pull back one layer, I start seeing a platform.

Lighthouse currently says it reaches 200,000+ students through 2,000+ preschools and 60+ K–12 schools.^[6]

Its portfolio includes EuroKids, Kangaroo Kids and Mother’s Pet in early childhood, and EuroSchool, Billabong High, Centre Point, Heritage, Phoenix Greens and others in K–12.^[6]

That is a very different scale from any single Gurugram campus.

How did Lighthouse become this large?

The story started with two EuroKids preschool franchises in Mumbai in 2001.^[3]

Lighthouse entered K–12 with EuroSchool in 2009. A Gaja-led consortium invested in 2013. Kangaroo Kids and Billabong High were acquired in 2017. KKR acquired a majority stake in 2019.^[3]

Then came more schools and brands: Centre Point, Heritage, Phoenix Greens, Finland International School Maldives and now the newer Gurugram moves.^[3][4]

This is not simply organic campus expansion. It is also an acquisition-and-partnership strategy.

The financial scale has grown with it.

CRISIL’s September 2025 analysis—using a consolidated Lighthouse group perimeter—records 183,978 students at 30 June 2025 and ₹1,375 crore of revenue in FY2025, versus ₹688 crore in FY2023.^[7]

That is almost exactly a doubling of reported group revenue in two financial years.

And behind Lighthouse?

The capital structure has evolved alongside the school portfolio.

A Gaja-led consortium invested in 2013. KKR took majority control in 2019.^[3]

Then, in November 2025, PSP Investments joined as a new investor while KKR said it would continue to hold a majority stake.^[8]

The exact post-transaction cap table is not publicly disclosed in the announcement.

So when I look at a premium school in Gurugram today, I increasingly have to ask two questions.

What is the school?

And what is the platform behind the school?

Because Heritage is not just Heritage anymore. ELV is not operating in isolation. And if the reported Pathways transaction closes as described, one of Gurugram’s most recognisable IB campuses will also sit within the Lighthouse orbit.

That does not make these schools identical. Their leadership, culture, curricula and day-to-day parent experience can remain very different.

But from an industry point of view, the pattern is becoming clearer.

The school on the road may be one campus. The education business behind it may already be a national platform with private-equity capital, hundreds of thousands of students and an active acquisition strategy.