 "Byju Raveendran, Byju's")
Byju’s Founder Byju Raveendran has told shareholders that the crisis-hit edtech company will constitute a board advisory committee (BAC) to provide strategic advice to the CEO on matters related to the governance structure.
Raveendran organised an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on July 4, following resignations of three key directors and the departure of Deloitte as the auditor of the company. This is the second meeting with shareholders. On June 26th, too, the company had a meeting with shareholders. The EGM was also called to discuss issues like Aakash IPO timeline, audit timeline, Term loan B (TLB) resolution and fundraising for the company.
“The BAC will serve as a working group consisting of independent directors with credible backgrounds and relevant experience from diverse corporate fields. Its primary purpose will be to provide advice and guidance to the CEO on matters pertaining to the composition of the board and the governance structure suitable for a company of Byju’s scale, size, and performance aspirations,” a source said.
Raveendran said details of the members and composition of the BAC will be discussed at the next EGM, which is scheduled to take place in three weeks.
“The BAC will serve as a working group consisting of independent directors with credible backgrounds and relevant experience from diverse corporate fields. Its primary purpose will be to provide advice and guidance to the CEO on matters pertaining to the composition of the board and the governance structure suitable for a company of Byju’s scale, size, and performance aspirations,” a source said.
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Byju’s management told shareholders that negotiations continue with lenders for TLB and are expected to have a favourable outcome.
“The CEO stated that active and constructive discussions have taken place, and there are reasons to be optimistic about a mutually acceptable resolution. He emphasised that both parties involved in the issue are motivated to avoid legal proceedings and seek a resolution that benefits all involved parties,” another source said.
Ajay Goel, Byju’s chief financial officer, who was also on the call with shareholders, said that an audit of the company’s subsidiaries such as Aakash, WhiteHat Jr, and Think & Learn were currently underway.
“The management reiterated the timeline for the completion of the FY22 audit is the end of September, while the FY23 audit is expected to be concluded by the end of December,” the source said.
Meanwhile, a company spokesperson said reports of Raveendran being asked to step down or withdraw from daily operations were not true.
“I can confirm that at the EGM, there was no discussion on potential CEO change. This topic never came up and was not on the EGM agenda” said Saurabh Gupta, managing partner at DST Global.
According to PrivateCircle data, Raveendran along with Divya Gokulnath and Riju Ravindran now hold a 21.2 per cent stake in Think & Learn, the holding company.
On June 24, Raveendran and Goel and group general counsel Roshan Thomas held a virtual meeting with shareholders following the departure of Deloitte and three key board members resigned. Earlier this month, the Bengaluru-headquartered company laid off 1,000 employees, across departments.
With the latest round, the job cuts at the company have mounted to around 3,500. The latest layoffs by the edtech firm come at a time when it is battling lenders in the US court and has not paid $40 million in interest payment on a $1.2-billion TLB.
The company filed a case in the New York Supreme Court, saying that demands by lenders were predatory.
