Byju's Assets Approved for Sale by a US Court

The coding platform Tynker and the children's learning platform Epic, two American assets of the struggling edtech company Byju's, were sold for a small portion of what the company had spent for them.

 According to a media report, both sales were allowed by a US bankruptcy court at a hearing on May 20.

Tynker was purchased by computer science education startup CodeHS for $2.2 million in cash, which is a substantial decrease from the $200 million Byju's paid in 2021 in a cash-and-stock transaction to acquire it.

China's TAL Education Group has purchased Epic for $95 million. Byju's purchased Epic in 2022 for $500 million in cash and stock.

Lenders Initiated Bankruptcy Proceedings Against Epic, Tynker and Osmo

Some members of the consortium who borrowed $1.2 billion to Byju's reportedly petitioned a US court to begin bankruptcy proceedings against Epic, Tynker, and Osmo in June 2024, according to a media house report.

The lenders sued Raveendran, his wife Divya Gokulnath, and former business executive Anita Kishore in the United States on April 10. The three were accused in the case of conspiring to conceal and embezzle $533 million from the funds they had given to Byju's Alpha, a special purpose financing vehicle the edtech business set up in the US to accept the loan.

Before this, a Delaware Bankruptcy Court decision found that there had been several thefts and fraudulent transfers. The lenders claim that the court also determined that Riju Raveendran, a suspended director of Byju's Alpha Inc., had breached his fiduciary duties as a director of the US company.

Raveendran Brothers Moved to NCLT and NCLAT in India

In India, the Raveendran brothers have petitioned the NCLT and the NCLAT for the removal of the resolution professional and a stay on the committee of creditors (CoC).

This action follows actions taken by Think & Learn's resolution professional to halt several court cases in a New York court. Concerns have also been voiced regarding the company's continuous asset sales.

After the coaching centre operator changed its articles of association (AoA) to eliminate the reserved rights of minority investors by implementing the resolutions passed at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) last November, Think & Learn, represented by the RP, has further claimed that its ownership stake in Aakash is being diluted.