A company that once carried the proud title of India's most valuable startup now finds itself asking its creditors for a way out of a heavy promise. Byju's, as the account reaches us, wishes to sell two of its overseas children, Epic and Great Learning, so that a $1.2 billion borrowing taken on in happier days can be settled in full. Whether the lenders will accept a faster schedule than the original terms allowed is still unknown, and so the story remains open, shaped by a familiar human pattern: ambition borrowed against the future, and then the slow reckoning that follows.
Byju's Proposes Selling Epic and Great Learning to Repay $1.2 Billion Term Loan Within Six Months
Sell two overseas businesses to clear a $1.2 billion loan in under six months
Mark
Start with the basics. What is Byju's actually asking for?
Mimi
Permission, in effect, to pay off the whole $1.2 billion Term B loan early, in under six months, by selling Epic and Great Learning. It would pay $300 million of it in the first three months.
Mark
Why those two businesses?
Mimi
They're overseas assets. Epic is a US kids' learning company Byju's bought for $500 million in May 2022, and Great Learning is an upskilling platform. Byju's hopes they fetch $800 million to $1 billion together.
Luke
Worth pausing on that figure. It's the company's hope, relayed by one unnamed source. It isn't a valuation or an offer.
Mark
And it falls short of $1.2 billion anyway.
Mimi
Yes, which is why the equity raise matters. The source says Byju's is also working on fresh capital from equity sales, though no amounts are given.
Luke
Same caution there. We don't know how much, from whom, or how far along it is.
Mark
Have the lenders said anything?
Mimi
Not yet. They haven't responded to the proposal.
Luke
And the company didn't reply to a request for comment, so everything here is single-sourced. The claim that the assets have drawn interest from strategic investors is also just the source's word. No buyer is named.
Mark
What about the leadership changes?
Mimi
Three investor representatives left, from Peak XV, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Prosus. Pai and Kumar joined an advisory council afterward.
Luke
The source places those events alongside the proposal, but doesn't say one caused the other. Likewise, the July lender amendment is reported, and its terms aren't described.
Il Polso
- A $1.2 billion term loan, once a sign of confidence, has become a pressing obligation that must be settled within months.
- Byju's is trying to sell its US-based Epic and Great Learning, hoping to raise between $800 million and $1 billion.
- The company proposes repaying $300 million within three months and clearing the full balance within six, a tight timeline that leaves little room for delay.
- Lenders have not yet responded, and the outcome hangs on whether they accept the schedule and whether strategic buyers appear at the prices Byju's hopes for.
A company that once carried the proud title of India's most valuable startup now finds itself asking its creditors for a way out of a heavy promise. Byju's, as the account reaches us, wishes to sell two of its overseas children, Epic and Great Learning, so that a $1.2 billion borrowing taken on in happier days can be settled in full. Whether the lenders will accept a faster schedule than the original terms allowed is still unknown, and so the story remains open, shaped by a familiar human pattern: ambition borrowed against the future, and then the slow reckoning that follows.
Byju's, the Indian ed-tech firm that once held the title of the country's most valuable startup, has put a proposal to its lenders. It wants permission to sell two overseas businesses, Epic and Great Learning, and use the proceeds to repay its entire $1.2 billion loan. The request, reported through a source familiar with the matter, asks the creditors to accept a compressed plan: $300 million within three months and the full sum within six. The company did not respond to a request for comment, and the lenders have not yet answered.
The debt is a Term B loan raised in November 2021 from overseas investors, money meant to fund acquisitions abroad. Byju's had used that capital to buy Aakash for $950 million, and later bought Epic for $500 million in May 2022, paying partly in cash and partly in stock. Now the same assets are being offered back to the market to cover the debt that helped create them.
The pressure comes amid a shifting ownership landscape. Several major backers, including representatives from Sequoia Capital, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Prosus, have stepped away, and Byju's has formed an advisory council that includes Mohandas Pai and Rajnish Kumar. Earlier in July, lenders had reportedly agreed in principle to amend the loan, though the details remain unclear. What comes next depends on whether creditors accept the timeline and whether buyers step forward at the prices the company is seeking.
Byju's, the Indian ed-tech company that once held the title of the country's most valuable startup, has put a proposal to its lenders: let it sell two overseas businesses, Epic and Great Learning, and use the money to pay off its entire $1.2 billion loan. That is roughly Rs 9,956 crore. The account comes from a source familiar with the matter, and the company did not answer an email seeking comment.
The debt in question is a Term B loan, or TLB, which Byju's raised in November 2021 from a group of overseas investors. A TLB is a senior secured syndicated credit facility issued by global institutional investors. Companies typically use the proceeds to refinance existing debt or to fund acquisitions abroad. Byju's was in the second camp: in 2021 it had bought Aakash for $950 million.
According to the source, Byju's has been in talks with the lenders and has now laid out a plan to clear the loan in under six months. Of the total, it proposes to repay $300 million within the next three months. The lenders have not yet responded to the proposal.
The assets at the center of it are Epic, a US-based learning company for children, and Great Learning, an upskilling platform. Byju's bought Epic in May 2022 in a deal worth $500 million, paid partly in cash and partly in stock. The company hopes the two sales together will bring in between $800 million and $1 billion, which would cover most but not all of the loan.
The source said Byju's is also working on raising fresh capital through equity sales. For the asset sales, it is working with bankers and is targeting strategic investors, and the source said those assets have already drawn interest.
The proposal follows earlier movement on the debt. In July, the steering committee of an ad hoc group of term loan lenders was reported to have agreed to amend the $1.2 billion loan. The details of that amendment are not spelled out in this account.
It also comes after a turnover on the investor side. Three representatives of major backers have exited: G V Ravishankar of Sequoia Capital, now Peak XV Partners; Vivian Wu of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; and Russell Dreisenstock of Prosus. Byju's then formed an advisory council that includes Mohandas Pai, the former Infosys CFO, and Rajnish Kumar, the former head of SBI who now chairs Bharatpe.
What to watch now is whether the lenders accept a repayment schedule this compressed, and whether strategic buyers actually come forward for Epic and Great Learning at prices near the range Byju's is hoping for.
Citazioni salienti
Byju's has made a proposal to lenders to clear its Term B loan, and lenders have not yet responded.— Source familiar with the matter, as reported by Business Insider India
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