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MUMBAI: Major investors of edtech startup Byju’s do not want founder & CEO Byju Raveendran to be in charge of the company, which has seen its valuation nosedive from $22 billion to $250 million in less than two years.
In a dramatic turn of events, a section of the firm’s major investors have issued a notice to Think & Learn (T&L), Byju’s parent, seeking an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to consider reconstitution of the firm’s board and change in leadership of the company.“…..we are deeply concerned about the future stability of the company under its current leadership and with the current constitution of the board,” the investors said in a statement on Thursday.
Byju Raveendran, his brother Riju Ravindran and his wife and co-founder Divya Gokulnath are currently on the board of Byju’s. The investors said that the EGM notice followed several months of continued efforts by shareholders to engage with the company to address “persistent issues” relating to corporate governance, mismanagement and compliance.
“The request for an EGM is supported by a consortium of T&L shareholders and follows earlier notices of requisition sent to the T&L Board of Directors in July and December 2023, which were disregarded,” they said. Prosus, Peak XV Partners, Sofina and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are among investors who have signed this notice, sources said.
Following instances of severe corporate governance lapses at the Bengaluru-based startup, the relationship between the company and its investors have been strained with its investor Prosus earlier accusing the startup’s leadership of regularly disregarding its advice relating to various business matters. Last June, Prosus representatives, Peak XV Partners and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative had stepped down from the company’s board and sources said that Byju’sinvestors have for long been wanting Raveendran to loosen his grip over the firm and step aside from day-to-day operations.
Once a celebrated startup, Byju’s which initially set out to transform the way school kids learn has managed to garner more than $5 billion in funding from storied global investors like Tiger Global and General Atlantic. Byju’s has launched a rights issue to raise $200 million from existing investors at a valuation of about $225-$230 million.
It was recently dragged to the insolvency tribunal by its foreign lenders over the company’s failure to repay a $1.2 billion term loan it had raised in 2021.
In a dramatic turn of events, a section of the firm’s major investors have issued a notice to Think & Learn (T&L), Byju’s parent, seeking an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to consider reconstitution of the firm’s board and change in leadership of the company.“…..we are deeply concerned about the future stability of the company under its current leadership and with the current constitution of the board,” the investors said in a statement on Thursday.
Byju Raveendran, his brother Riju Ravindran and his wife and co-founder Divya Gokulnath are currently on the board of Byju’s. The investors said that the EGM notice followed several months of continued efforts by shareholders to engage with the company to address “persistent issues” relating to corporate governance, mismanagement and compliance.
“The request for an EGM is supported by a consortium of T&L shareholders and follows earlier notices of requisition sent to the T&L Board of Directors in July and December 2023, which were disregarded,” they said. Prosus, Peak XV Partners, Sofina and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are among investors who have signed this notice, sources said.
Following instances of severe corporate governance lapses at the Bengaluru-based startup, the relationship between the company and its investors have been strained with its investor Prosus earlier accusing the startup’s leadership of regularly disregarding its advice relating to various business matters. Last June, Prosus representatives, Peak XV Partners and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative had stepped down from the company’s board and sources said that Byju’sinvestors have for long been wanting Raveendran to loosen his grip over the firm and step aside from day-to-day operations.
Once a celebrated startup, Byju’s which initially set out to transform the way school kids learn has managed to garner more than $5 billion in funding from storied global investors like Tiger Global and General Atlantic. Byju’s has launched a rights issue to raise $200 million from existing investors at a valuation of about $225-$230 million.
It was recently dragged to the insolvency tribunal by its foreign lenders over the company’s failure to repay a $1.2 billion term loan it had raised in 2021.
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