BYJU’S investors call for EGM to address leadership issues; ‘deeply concerned’ about firm’s future

Several major investors in BYJU’S have issued a notice to Think and Learn Private Limited (TLPL)—the parent company of the edtech firm—requesting an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to address persistent issues.

Proposed resolutions for the EGM include addressing governance, financial, and compliance issues; restructuring the Board to reduce founder control, and changing the company’s leadership.

The group of investors are “deeply concerned about the future stability of the company under its current leadership and with the current constitution of the Board”, they said in a statement.

The present Board comprises BYJU'S Founder and CEO Byju Raveendran, his wife and Co-founder Divya Gokulnath, and his brother Riju Ravindran.

Peak XV Partners’ GV Ravishankar, Prosus’s Russell Dreisenstock, and Chan Zuckerberg’s Vivian Wu officially stepped down from the edtech firm's Board in June last year.

“The issuance of this EGM notice follows many months of continued efforts by shareholders to engage with the company to address persistent issues relating to corporate governance, mismanagement, and compliance. These efforts have been ongoing following the resignation from the Board in June 2023 of directors nominated by Prosus and other shareholders,” the group of investors said.

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According to the statement, the request for an EGM follows earlier notices of requisition sent to the TLPL Board of Directors in July and December 2023, which were disregarded by the company.

The group of investors said that they are grateful for the efforts of the independent advisory council in addressing some of the looming challenges facing TLPL.

In July, BYJU'S appointed Mohandas Pai, former CFO and Board Member of Infosys, and Rajnish Kumar, former Chairperson of State Bank of India, to its advisory council.

The notice from the key investors comes a few days after the board of TLPL launched a rights issue to raise $200 million, extended to all equity shareholders. TLPL’s planned rights issuance seeks to finance current capital expenditures and provide support for general corporate purposes.