Byju’s secured favorable outcomes in two court hearings Thursday, paving the way for the embattled edtech startup to move ahead with the extraordinary general meeting scheduled for Friday.
The National Company Law Tribunal refused to stay on Thursday Byju’s planned EGM to increase the authorized share capital for the $200 million rights issue. The matter will be heard again on April 4, but as the lawyer representing the estranged four investors of Byju’s warned, once the authorized share capital has been increased, it cannot be reversed.
A group of Byju’s investors, including Prosus, Peak XV and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Sofina, is legally challenging Byju’s recent rights issue and seeks to remove the founder and chief executive Byju Raveendran from the firm.
The Karnataka High Court separately said Thursday it will only hear the case where the investor group seeks to remove Raveendran after two months.
The rights issue is crucial for Byju’s, once India’s most valuable startup, as it seeks to tap the $200 million it has already received from a set of investors, including Raveendran. In an interim order last month, the tribunal court directed Byju’s to move the funds in an escrow account and not make use of it until the issues have been resolved.
This is a developing story. More to follow.
