Baron Capital Slashes BYJU’S Valuation By 99%

US-based asset management company Baron Capital Group has significantly reduced the fair value of its investment in the edtech firm BYJU’S by 99.85% to $120 Mn as of March 31, 2024.

Baron Capital, holding 15,334 shares through the Baron Emerging Markets Fund and 9,201 shares via the Baron Global Advantage Fund, has valued its investments in BYJU’S at $75,485 and $45,294, respectively.

This drastic reduction aligns with a broader concern regarding BYJU’S valuation, which has fallen significantly from its peak valuation of $22 Bn in October 2022. Earlier in the year, the edtech firm raised $200 Mn in the rights issue, when the company reportedly had a valuation in the range of $20-$25 Mn.

In its latest quarterly filing, the US-based investment firm has also recognised a final write down of its investment in BYJU’S.

Earlier in January, another US-based asset manager, BlackRock slashed its valuation of edtech major BYJU’S by around 95% from $22 Bn to $1 Bn. However, it is to be noted that this valuation was before the rights issue.

Amid the ongoing trouble, the edtech major reportedly “significantly” slashed the prices of its products and revamped its sales model. The firm has reduced the annual subscription for BYJU’S Learning App to INR 12,000, while BYJU’S Classes and offline BYJU’S Tuition Centres (BTC) courses are now priced at INR 24,000 and INR 36,000, respectively.

The company also announced a leaner structure and consolidated some of the verticals under its BYJU’S 3.0 initiative.

The edtech major has been grappling with fires on multiple fronts, including a looming debt crisis, impending mass layoffs, delayed salaries, a cash crunch and a bevy of legal and insolvency cases filed by its investors and vendors.

Meanwhile, after BYJU’S only partially paid employee salaries in February and March, the company reportedly processed full salaries for the month of May on June 3. This marks the second consecutive month employees have received their full salaries.

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