In a positive turn of events for Byju's staff anticipating their November salaries, the company successfully processed pending payments for 1,000 employees on December 4, according to sources informed Moneycontrol.
In light of various challenges faced by the company, this salary disbursement alleviates concerns for a fraction of its workforce, which currently stands at around 14,000 employees under Byju's India entity.
Byju's attributed the delay in salary disbursement to a technical glitch during the upload of details from its internal system to the payroll service provider system. The issue, which led to the delay, has since been resolved, the company stated.
As of now, Byju's has refrained from providing additional comments regarding this matter.
The company has recently faced criticism for its repeated delays in settling full and final payments for laid-off employees, having shifted the payment date from September to November previously.
These challenges compound existing difficulties for Byju's, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has taken legal action against the edtech firm, bringing the matter to the National Company Law Tribunal.
Despite these challenges, Byju's recently resolved a longstanding issue with Davidson Kempner, related to covenants on its subsidiary Aakash. In November, Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai successfully acquired the debt investment by the US Hedge Fund in a substantial Rs 1,400-crore deal, as reported by Moneycontrol.
In a proactive move to repay its $1.2 billion term loan B within the next six months, Byju's submitted a proposal to its lenders in September. The company aims to make an initial payment of $300 million within the next three months as part of this plan.
To secure funds for loan repayment, Byju's has initiated a strategic review of its key assets and decided to sell the upskilling platform Great Learning and book reading platform Epic. The expected proceeds from these sales are estimated to be around $1 billion, according to Moneycontrol.
Byju's, founded by former teacher Raveendran over a decade ago, achieved significant milestones in March 2022 when it raised an impressive $800 million funding round, reaching a valuation of $22 billion and becoming India’s most-valued startup. However, the company has faced challenges since then, including delayed financial results, the resignation of its auditor, Deloitte, and the departure of three key board members. Notable top-level exits include CEO Mrinal Mohit, CFO Ajay Goel, and CTO Anil Goel, all of whom were subsequently replaced.
