In some cheers for edtech unicorn Byju’s which is facing a myriad of issues, Aakash Chaudhry is reportedly set to return as CEO of Aakash Educational Services that Byju’s acquired in April 2021.
According to sources, the companies are finally set to reach a deal after months of dispute.
Chaudhry was the CEO till November 2020, and later resigned from the board last December.
The Economic Times was first to report about the development.
Byju’s acquisition of Delhi-based offline test preparatory services provider Aakash for nearly $1 billion was still incomplete and Chaudhry, Co-Promoter and Managing Director of Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), had earlier resigned from the board.
With the new development, the Aakash promoter group is close to executing its share-swap in Byju’s.
The share-swap will give Chaudhry around 8 per cent in Think and Learn Pet Ltd, which is Byju’s parent company.
Chaudhry is likely to retain around 9 per cent in Aakash, the report mentioned.
Think & Learn will hold around 51 per cent of the company after the deal, according to sources.
Byju’s and Aakash were yet to comment on the development. Earlier this year, Byju’s denied reports that it was considering a merger of rival Gaurav Munjal-run Unacademy into Aakash Educational Services.
An Aakash spokesperson had said that they have had “absolutely no discussions with Unacademy or any other player to merge with Aakash Educational Services” .
Meanwhile, Byju’s is likely to release its financial statement for FY22 this month.
The company was scheduled to convene a board meeting in the second week of October “for approval and adoption of accounts for FY22”.
“Think and Learn Pvt Ltd has issued a notice for convening a Board meeting in the second week of October 2023 for approval and adoption of accounts for FY22,” a Byju’s spokesperson said.
Byju’s is mulling to sell at least two of its subsidiaries, Epic and Great Learning, to raise between $800 million and $1 billion, amid reports that the company has formulated a proposal to repay its outstanding $1.2 billion Term Loan B (TLB).
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