Manipal Group’s Ranjan Pai buys BYJU'S' Rs 1,400 Cr Davidson Kempner debt

Ranjan Pai–the Chairman of Manipal Education and Medical Group—has reportedly bought Rs 1,400 crore debt in BYJU'S test preparation unit Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), to help the troubled edtech firm pay off a loan taken from US-based lender Davidson Kempner Capital Management.

Of the Rs 1,400 crore being paid to the lender, Rs 800 crore is the loan amount and the remaining Rs 600 crore is in interest, The Economic Times reported. Pai has also taken a seat on Aakash’s board, the report added.

YourStory has reached out to BYJU’S and Ranjan Pai for comments.

In May, the Bengaluru-based firm had raised $250 million (~ Rs 2,000 crore) through structured instruments from Davidson Kempner against its Aakash shareholding. Founder and CEO Byju Raveendran is said to have offered a portion of his 27% equity in Aakash as collateral for the loan.

Pai’s investment in Aakash is also said to be linked with Aakash Chaudhry, AESL’s co-promoter and co-founder, who could return as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the test prep unit.

This arrangement is likely linked to the finalisation of a stock-swap deal with BYJU'S parent company, Think and Learn Pvt Ltd, as part of AESL’s acquisition about two years ago.

In 2021, BYJU’S acquired AESL for approximately $950 million, with around 70% of the deal paid in cash and the remaining portion meant to be adjusted against Think and Learn’s equity.

Meanwhile, BYJU’S is considering selling two of its holdings, Epic and Great Learning, to generate a minimum of $800 million to settle a $1.2 billion term loan B owed to its lenders.

Earlier this month, BYJU released specific financial figures related to its core business as part of the audited financial results for the fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22).

In FY22, the core business earned a total income of Rs 3,569 crore, up from Rs 1,552 crore in the previous year, and the EBITDA loss decreased to Rs 2,253 crore from Rs 2,406 crore in the previous financial year, according to a company statement.

The company did not divulge the net loss from its core business. It also did not disclose its consolidated revenue and profit/loss numbers for FY22.