3 directors quit Byju’s board, auditor resigns

It hasn’t been long since the news of Byju’s considering another round of layoffs amidst financial challenges came out. Now, as per media reports, the edtech firm has lost three of its directors. That is not all, its auditor, Deloitte Haskins has also quit.

The directors who have resigned from the board are, Russel Dreisenstock of Prosus, GV Ravishankar, managing director, Peak XV Partners (former Sequoia Capital India), Vivian Wu, from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Byju’s, however, has not given any official confirmation of these resignations.

Deloitte Haskins, reportedly quit because Byju’s failed to submit financial statements for the year ended 31 March, 2022. Henceforth, BDO (MSKA & Associates) will play the role of statutory auditors for the company, including Think and Learn, its holding company and Aakash Education Services and other subsidiaries.

Byju’s has been facing financial challenges for some time now. The most recent plan to lay off about 1,000 employees, primarily from the sales and marketing teams, was also aimed at reducing costs and streamline its operations.

Now, with the auditor and three directors dissociating themselves from the company, there seems to have emerged a rift between Byju’s and its shareholders too.

Recently, the edtech firm failed to make a quarterly interest payment of around $40 million on a $1.2 billion term loan B. As a result, Byju’s has taken legal action against Redwood investment management, filing a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court. The company intends to stop the acceleration of the $1.2 billion term loan B facility and prevent Redwood from being the lender. The company alleges that Redwood, primarily involved in trading distressed debt, acquired a significant share of the loan in violation of the loan facility’s terms.