Setback for Byju Raveendran as NCLAT rejects Byju's appeal to raise...; amid legal tussle with...

Byju Raveendran has suffered a major setback as the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has dismissed Byju’s appeal seeking permission for an equity fund raise by its subsidiary Aakash Educational Services, CNBCTV18 reported. The order comes amid a legal tussle with Blackstone, which holds a 6.8 per cent stake in Aakash through its entity Topco. The development comes weeks after Byju's learning app was delisted from the Google Play Store due to non-payment of dues to its vendor, Amazon Web Services.

The appeal challenged an earlier interim order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which had directed the parties to maintain the status quo regarding Aakash’s shareholding. Both Byju’s and Aakash had earlier challenged NCLT’s interim order, hoping for urgent relief to proceed with fundraising plans.

Blackstone had opposed the proposed equity raise, alleging it would erode the rights of minority shareholders. The appeal was crucial for Byju’s and Aakash, as they argued that the equity infusion was essential for their continued growth and survival.

Insolvency proceedings are underway against Byju's on appeal by various investors, including lender-authorised agency Glas Trust. Raveendran co-founded Byju's in 2011 with his wife Divya Gokulnath. He has a significant stake in Byju's, together with her wife and brother Riju Raveendran. Byju's was valued at USD 22 billion in the last funding round in 2022. It was once India’s top ed-tech company.

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A former math tutor, Raveendran was born in Kerala. After his graduation (B.Tech) from the Government College of Engineering, Kannur, he joined a multinational shipping company as a service engineer. He helped his friends who were studying for the CAT exam. He then took the CAT exam and scored in the 100th percentile. Two years later, he continued helping people study for the CAT exam, and based on the good results, decided to quit his job.