Foreign investors in Byju’s, including General Atlantic, have urged India’s Supreme Court to hear their concerns as judges decide on the future of the insolvent education tech firm, a legal filing shows.
Valued at $22 billion in 2022, Byju’s became popular by offering online training courses during the COVID-19 pandemic, but is now locked in a dispute with U.S. lenders seeking $1 billion in unpaid dues – a case that has triggered its insolvency.
The latest move by Byju’s investors could potentially complicate efforts by founder and CEO Byju Raveendran to fight the insolvency move and regain control of the company.
In the Aug. 25 filing, which is not public but was seen by Reuters, General Atlantic, Prosus, Peak XV (previously known as Sequoia Capital) and Sofina told the court they “wish to present grounds pertaining to the issues” under consideration.
The four are the biggest foreign shareholders in Byju’s with a combined stake of nearly 17%. They said they share concerns about mismanagement at the company, just like U.S. lenders, the filing showed.
The Supreme Court will hear Byju’s insolvency case on Friday.
The investors are not supporting insolvency but want to brief the Supreme Court judges about alleged mismanagement at Byju’s, a source with direct knowledge of the filing told Reuters.
Raveendran has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and some of the investors had previously also called for his ouster but weren’t successful. Under the insolvency process Byju’s is being run by a court-appointed official.
In June, Dutch technology investor Prosus became the first investor to fully write-off its investment in Byju’s citing “the significant decrease in value for equity investors”.
Raveendran has warned that insolvency will lead to a total shutdown of the company which has 27,000 employees.
Byju’s employees and parents of students plan to campaign to recover unpaid salaries and dues, Reuters interviews with dozens of Byju’s employees and parents of students showed.
Reuters
