ETtech first reported about the resignation of GV Ravishankar, managing director at Peak XV Partners, and Russell Dreisenstock, head of investments-food at Prosus, on Thursday evening.
“We confirm that GV Ravishankar, MD, Peak XV Partners has resigned from the board of Think & Learn Pvt Ltd. We are committed to supporting the company for bringing on board an independent director in order to strengthen business processes and internal control mechanisms,” a spokesperson for Peak XV Partners said in response to ETtech’s queries.
Similarly, Prosus confirmed Dreisenstock’s departure from Byju’s board. “The company is required to file the resignation letter with the MCA (ministry of corporate affairs) in India within the required time period,” said the Netherlands-listed firm.
On Thursday, Byju’s had denied these resignations.
ETtech had reported that Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative had also tendered her resignation from the board along with the edtech firm’s auditor Deloitte, which cited delay in furnishing 2021-22 financial statements. The resignations come at a time Byju’s is caught in court cases with lenders, loan defaults and much-delayed filing of its financial results for the year ended March 31, 2022.
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After these exits from the board, Byju Raveendran and his family members Divya Gokulnath and Rijiu Raveendran are the remaining directors on the board. Together, they own about 26-27% in the company while Peak XV Partners held around 6% and Prosus had a 9.67% share.
Following Deloitte’s exit, Byju’s said in a statement on Thursday it had appointed BDO (MSKA & Associates) as its statutory auditor for five years from fiscal year 2021-22.
Byju’s is currently facing multiple challenges, including finalising new terms for its $1.2-billion term loan B, even as both sides have gone to court against each other. However, the firm continues to hold one-to-one conversations with creditors to finalise fresh terms. Lenders like Glas Trust Company are pursuing a legal action suit against the edtech firm in Delaware, US, and Byju’s has filed a suit against hedge fund Redwood and its entities in New York, against their demand for “accelerated repayment”.
Led by founder Raveendran, Byju’s has been slashing thousands of jobs to cut costs amid a slowdown in funding and lack of growth in the online education sector as Covid-19 has ebbed.
Earlier this week, the General Atlantic-backed firm undertook a fresh round that would impact up to 1,000 jobs, ETtech had reported. These layoffs are expected to be across departments in Byju’s as well as its coding subsidiary, Whitehat Jr.