Prosus NV slashed the value of its holding in Byju’s by 15 per cent, the investor’s second reduction in less than a year, as the beleaguered Indian ed-tech startup fights off an investor uprising.
Prosus set the fair value of its 9.6 per cent stake at $493 million, pegging Byju’s total value at about $5.1 billion, according to a disclosure in the Dutch tech investor’s annual report on Tuesday. Prosus also reduced the valuation in September, saying it lost influence over Byju’s financial and operating policies.
Byju’s is in talks with prospective shareholders to raise as much as $1 billion to stave off attempts by some of its existing investors to wrest control from founder Byju Raveendran, Bloomberg News reported earlier. The start-up, which was once valued at $22 billion, is facing slowing growth, and the company has missed deadlines for filing its financial results and paying interest on a loan.
Prosus executive Russell Dreisenstock resigned from his position on Byju’s board last week, joined by directors from Peak XV Capital and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The board walkout came just after the Indian company’s auditors quit the firm.