Byju’s plans asset sale to pay off $1.2 billion loan

Mumbai: Edtech giant Byju’s has put two of its businesses -- reading platform Epic and higher education platform Great Learning -- up for sale to pay off its term loan B lenders, three people with knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity. 

‘The assets may fetch Byju’s around $800 million to $1 billion, which will be used to repay the outstanding TLB,” one of the people cited above said.

Byju's had acquired both assets during the peak of 2021 to build its $22 billion empire.

Byju’s raised $1.2 billion through a term loan B from overseas investors in November 2021 at a time when interest rates were low. Since then, interest rates have not just gone up but the equation between both the company and its lenders also soured.

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Matters came to a head in June when the company skipped an interest payment and took its lenders to court to prevent the acceleration of the TLB repayment.

In an about-turn of sorts, Byju’s is offering to repay the full loan.

“A detailed plan to repay the loan has been sent to the lenders,” the second person cited above said. “The cost of the loan was becoming too expensive,” he added.

On Monday, Bloomberg news wire reported that the company had offered to pay the entire $1.2 billion in the next 6 months, with a payment of $300 million expected to be made in the next 3 months.

A Byju’s spokesperson did not immediately revert to Mint’s request for comment.

The company has earlier stated that it expects to file its FY22 financial statements by September 2023 and its FY23 statements by December 2023. "The company may also be able to raise capital from external investors once its accounts are closed," one of the people cited above added.