Byju’s statement came against the background of an intelligence agency’s report.
New Delhi:
Edtech Major Byju’s said on Tuesday that the promoters reinvested the entire amount they raised through secondary sales of shares in the company.
According to private market research firm PrivateCircle Research, Byju’s promoters – Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath and Riju Ravindran – have collectively sold shares worth approximately $408.53 million in 40 secondary transactions since 2015.
“BYJU’S promoters have reinvested the entire funds raised from secondary sales into the company to scale it up over the years,” Byju’s said in a statement.
The statement came in the background of the intelligence agency’s report.
PrivateCircle said that Raveendran holds 15.90 percent, while Divya Gokulnath and Riju Ravindran hold 3.32 percent and 1.99 percent respectively.
“The promoters’ stake in the company has gradually declined since 2016. The first significant decline was between 2015-2016 when the promoters’ stake fell from 71.6 percent to 54.7 percent and later fell to 34.7 percent in 2019 and 21.2 percent in 2023,” the report said.
The private market intelligence platform said it analyzed several public data sources to arrive at its findings and in two cases where the secondary share price was not available, PrivateCircle used the closest available primary share price.
“Since 2015, Byju Raveendran has individually sold 29,306 shares worth $3.28 million, while his wife and co-founder Divya Gokulnath sold 64,565 shares worth $29.40 million, and brother Riju Ravindran sold 337,911 shares worth $29.40 million. $375.83 million.
“Over the years, multiple investors have participated in BYJU’s secondary transactions, including Silver Lake Partners, Blackrock, T Rowe Price, Chan Zuckerberg, Owl Ventures, Naspers, Times Internet, Lightspeed Ventures, Proxima Beta, Naspers Ventures, General Atlantic and Alkeon,” it said.
PrivateCircle Research said the secondary deals at Byju’s were often executed at a discounted valuation compared to the company’s primary valuation at the time.
“For example, an average discount of 53 percent was observed in secondary sales during the Series F round. During this round, BYJU promoters sold their shares in the price range of Rs 1,12,126 – Rs 1,64,000 per share and the Series De price of the primary share was between Rs 2,13,042 and Rs 2,37,336,” the report said.
According to the report, since 2012, Mr. Raveendran has bought a total of 31,960 shares from multiple sellers, including Ravindran Kunnaruvath (Byju Raveendran’s father), Arunangshu Bhakta (BYJU’s employee), Brijesh Maheshbhai Patel (BYJU’s employee), Smit Rajanikant Patel (BYJU’s employee), Unique Jain (BYJU’s employee) and Pravin Prakash (BYJU’s employee).
Divya Gokulnath bought a total of 4,666 shares from Navin Balan and Priya Mohan (founders of Vidyartha).
Byju acquired Vidhyartha in 2017.
“Riju Ravindran also bought 100 shares from Mrinal Mohit (COO of BYJU). However, we could not determine the value of these secondary purchases,” the report said.
Speaking to investors, Mr. Raveendran highlighted his personal investments in the company, including $400 million in the parent company, $250 million for the acquisition of Aakash and an additional $250 million through committed secondary shares for the latest round of funding.
In a recent council meeting with employees, Mr Raveendran said promoters are still the largest investor in the company.
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