BENGALURU (Reuters) – An Indian court on Tuesday began insolvency proceedings for edtech company Byju’s after the national cricket association complained about the failure to collect $19 million in debt, a fresh blow to a company that was once India’s biggest startup.
Byju’s has faced a lot of setbacks in recent years, leading to a crisis of investor confidence, thousands of layoffs and a drop in the company’s value from $22 billion in 2022 to less than $3 billion.
In this latest setback, the National Company Law Tribunal found that “it cannot be disputed” that Byju’s parent company, Think & Learn Private Limited, had used the services of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and defaulted on payment of approximately Rs 1.59 billion ($19.02 million).
“As we have always maintained, we want to reach an amicable settlement with BCCI and we are confident that despite this order, a settlement can be reached. In the meantime, our lawyers are reviewing the order and will take necessary steps to protect the interests of the company,” a Byju’s spokesperson said.
Under Indian law, the tribunal has appointed an interim resolution professional, Pankaj Srivastava, who will now oversee the management of Byju’s. The powers of the board of directors are suspended for the time being and vest in Srivastava.
BCCI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
($1 = 83.5950 Indian Rupees)
(Reporting by Indranil Sarkar; additional reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter)
