Byju's lenders seek 30% stake in Indian education group in settlement, sources say

Byju's global lenders are in talks to take a roughly 30% stake in one of its partly-owned education firms in return for dropping all legal action against the Indian company's founder Byju Raveendran, two sources with direct knowledge said.

Byju's operated in more than 21 countries at one point and became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic by offering online courses. But its fortunes changed in early 2023 when the high-profile dispute with its U.S.-based lenders began.

U.S.-based Glas Trust, trustee for a group of lenders, accused Raveendran of mismanagement and demanded $1 billion in unpaid loans after Byju's filed for bankruptcy in India in 2024. Raveendran and Byju's have denied any wrongdoing.

After a meteoric rise from being a teacher to startup billionaire, Raveendran's education-technology company imploded and in 2024 he said, "The company is worth zero."

The legal dispute, which spans courts in India, Singapore and the United States, has been raging since Byju's bankruptcy.

The two sources, who declined to be named as the talks are private, told Reuters that the lenders are in the advanced stages of settling the dispute and are likely to take a roughly 30% stake in Aakash Educational Services, a popular offline coaching institute.

In return, the lenders will drop all their allegations against Raveendran and end all legal matters, the sources added.

Byju's acquired India's Aakash in a $1 billion deal in 2021, but its stake has since been diluted to a minority, with Manipal Health now the single largest shareholder.

Raveendran, Byju's, Glas Trust, Aakash and Manipal Health did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Aakash runs more than 300 centres across India offering test preparatory services for medical and engineering entrance exams, as well as school papers. It has a faculty of more than 5,000 experts and last reported annual revenue of around $254 million.

The settlement talks, which one of the sources said involve Raveendran, Glas Trust, Aakash and Manipal, value Aakash at roughly $2 billion, the two sources added.