Prosus writes off its entire $530 mn investment in edtech firm Byju’s
Dutch investor Prosus Ventures has written off all its $530million investment in edtech major Byju’s as it marked down its investment in the company as zero in its annual report.
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Bengaluru, 24 June: Dutch investor Prosus Ventures has written off all its $530million investment in edtech major Byju’sas it marked down its investment in the company as zero in its annual report.
“In the current financial year, the group wrote off the fair value of its 9.6% effective interest in Byju's, due to the significant decrease in value for equity investors," Prosus said in its annual report released on Monday. “A fair value lossof $493million was recognised in othercomprehensiveincome in the current year,” the company said.
Prosus had earlier slashed the valuation of its stake in Byju’s as the edtech major got embroiled in series of controversies in past years. In November, it valued its stake in Byju's at $3 billion. The Dutch investment firm had invested around $530 million and holds around for 9.67 per cent stake in Byju’s as of now.
During its hey days, Buju’s was considered as the most valued startup in India and was valued at close to $22 billion in July 2022.
“In September 2022, the group lost significant influence in BYJU’S as it no longer exerts significant influence over the financial andoperating policies of the entity. The group recognised a gain on loss of significant influence of the associate of $22million, includinga reclassification of the accumulated foreign currency translation losses of $55million. The group accounts for its 9.60 per cent effective interestin BYJU’S at fair value through other comprehensive income. The fair value of BYJU’S investment subsequent to the loss of significantinfluence is $578million,” the annual report noted.
This disclosure comes at a time when Prosus and other prominent investors of Byju's like Peak XV Partners are embroiled in a legal tussle with the Byju’s management including the promoter group.
Byju's is in the process of raising $200 million in a rights issue at a dilution of 99 percent to its last valuation of $22 billion. However, this has been challenged by a clutch of its investors, leading to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) ordering the company not to use the cash from the rights issue until the matter is decided in court.
