BYJU’S Insolvency: Lenders Make Claim For INR 11,432 Cr Dues

SC Questions NCLAT's Decision To Approve BYJU’S-BCCI Settlement

SUMMARY

The claim filed by Glas Trust accounts for nearly 88% of the total claims filed by the company’s creditors

The edtech major’s wholly owned subsidiary Aakash Educational Services has filed a claim of INR 1,404 Cr

So far, claims worth over INR 13,027 Cr have been received against BYJU’S from 1,887 creditors, most of which are still under review

Amid the ongoing insolvency proceedings of BYJU’S, Glas Trust, a consortium of the edtech’s term loan B (TLB) lenders, has claimed dues to the tune of INR 11,432 Cr ($1.36 Bn).

This accounts for nearly 88% of the total claims filed by the company’s creditors. It is pertinent to note that a clutch of US-based creditors lent the company $1.2 Bn TLB in November 2021 to fund its overseas operations.

Meanwhile, the edtech major’s wholly owned subsidiary and coaching chain Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) has filed a claim of INR 1,404 Cr ($167 Mn).

As per Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) documents accessed by Inc42, AESL and Glas Trust have been listed as “unsecured financial creditors” of the troubled edtech’s parent, Think & Learn Pvt Ltd.

At present, the troubled edtech major is being run by the court-appointed resolution professional, Pankaj Srivastava, who has invited lenders, employees, vendors and the government to claim their respective outstandings.

So far, claims worth over INR 13,027 Cr have been received from 1,887 creditors, most of which are still under review.

Who Are The Unsecured Financial Creditors?

As per IBBI documents, fintech major InCred Financial Services has claimed dues to the tune of INR 20.34 Cr. Notably, the IRP has admitted the entire claim filed by InCred against BYJU’S.

Another entity, Anglo Asia, has filed a claim to claw back a “loan” worth INR 810 Cr to BYJU’S.

List of Operational Creditors Of BYJU’S

As many as 95 entities listed as “operational creditor” of the edtech startup have filed claims worth INR 425.12 Cr against BYJU’S. Of these, the IRP has admitted the claims of just one company, Aditya Birla Finance.

The financial services arm of the conglomerate filed claims worth nearly INR 47.12 Cr against the edtech startup, of which nearly INR 30 Cr was admitted by IRP Srivastava.

Kalyani Techpark, where the company’s Bengaluru office was once located, has also sought more than INR 190 Cr in dues from BYJU’S through its multiple entities. Notably, Surfer Technologies, which settled its insolvency case with BYJU’S in June 2024, also figures in the list of operational creditors and has staked claim for INR 1.25 Cr.

Additionally, Chinese smartphone makers OPPO and Vivo have also filed claims worth INR 16.64 Cr and INR 5.33 Cr, respectively.

Meanwhile, both central and Karnataka tax authorities, spanning various departments, have filed claims for dues worth more than INR 848 Cr with the IRP. On top of that, as many as 1,784 employees of BYJU’S have filed claims worth INR 301 Cr against the once poster child of the edtech ecosystem.

After raising billions of dollars from investors at the height of the pandemic in 2021, BYJU’S went on a downhill path as soon as capital dried up with the onset of funding winter. Meanwhile, reckless expansion and fruitless acquisitions led to ballooning losses even as revenues failed to grow commensurately.

As a result, the company undertook major steps to cut costs, including mass layoffs, restructuring operations and shutting down centres, but to no avail. Making matters worse were delayed salaries, slew of legal and insolvency cases and a public standoff with investors.