Byju's To Sell US Unit Epic For $400 Million To Ease Financial Woes

Byju's could be able to raise money through the sale of Epic! Creations Inc. in order to pay off a contentious $1.2 billion term loan

Outlook Business Desk

Updated on: 6 November 2023 6:29 pm

Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO of Byju's Photo: Getty Images

In an effort to relieve some of its financial strain, Indian education company Byju's is in advanced talks to sell its kids' digital reading platform Joffre Capital Ltd., which is based in the US, for roughly $400 million.

Byju's could be able to raise money through the sale of Epic! Creations Inc. in order to pay off a contentious $1.2 billion term loan, according to people familiar with the situation, who spoke to Bloomberg.

They claimed that further bidders, who wished to remain anonymous because the details are confidential, included Duolingo Inc.

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A missing interest payment on a term loan that Byju's took out to help finance a worldwide acquisition spree during the pandemic has put the firm and its creditors in a deadlock.

The firm had presented financiers with an unexpected repayment plan that called for selling off assets to pay back the full $1.2 billion debt in less than six months, Bloomberg News reported in September.

According to the people, Moelis & Co. is handling Epic's sale, and a transaction might be completed as soon as this month. The sources stated that Byju's may decide to hold onto the assets for a longer period of time as no decision on the purchase has been made yet.

As part of its global expansion, Byju's, which happens to be the pioneer of online education in India purchased Epic in 2021 for $500 million. On its website, the US company, which was established approximately ten years ago, has over 40,000 books in its library for its online platform.

Byju's, formally known as Think & Learn Pvt, has been attempting to cut expenses in order to minimise losses since the online learning boom of the epidemic era petered out. Once the most valued IT firm in India, it is currently embroiled in a legal dispute with creditors and facing regulatory investigation into its financial statements. Over the weekend, Byju released its first earnings in years, showing that despite a pandemic-era surge in commerce, losses at its parent company narrowed just slightly.