NEW DELHI: The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has dragged troubled edtech company Byju’s to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for non-payment of Rs 160 crore sponsorship money after the expiry of contract.
While the payment has been due for more than six months now, Byju’s is seeking to clear the amount. “We are in discussions with the BCCI to settle the matter and we hope to achieve that soon,” a company spokesperson said.
The dispute relates to the sponsorship contract, which ended in March 2022.All payments up to this period had been made by Byju’s. At this time, BCCI had asked the company, which was once the most valuable startup, to continue till it found a new sponsor. Amid a funding winter, Byju’s wanted to exit but BCCI persuaded it to stay on for a little more time.
So, in June, Byju’s extended its jersey sponsorship agreement with the board until November 2023 for an estimated $35 million, an agency report had said. While Byju’s wanted to terminate its agreement with the BCCI from December, the board wanted it to continue at least until March 2023 so that a new sponsor could come from the new financial year.
The dispute relates to a payment of Rs 160 crore for this period, sources said. With payments due to employees, insolvency experts suggested, BCCI’s dues would get lower precedence as it is an operational creditor. Yet, Byju’s is learnt to have communicated to BCCI that it wants to settle the matter amicably.
The company has been in financial trouble for the last few months after a series of high-profile acquisitions and lack of fresh funding. It wants to exit some of the companies that it had acquired. It has laid off over 5,000 employees since October 2022 to cut costs.
After over a year’s delay, its financial results for FY22 revealed Rs 2,253 crore in EBITDA losses
While the payment has been due for more than six months now, Byju’s is seeking to clear the amount. “We are in discussions with the BCCI to settle the matter and we hope to achieve that soon,” a company spokesperson said.
The dispute relates to the sponsorship contract, which ended in March 2022.All payments up to this period had been made by Byju’s. At this time, BCCI had asked the company, which was once the most valuable startup, to continue till it found a new sponsor. Amid a funding winter, Byju’s wanted to exit but BCCI persuaded it to stay on for a little more time.
So, in June, Byju’s extended its jersey sponsorship agreement with the board until November 2023 for an estimated $35 million, an agency report had said. While Byju’s wanted to terminate its agreement with the BCCI from December, the board wanted it to continue at least until March 2023 so that a new sponsor could come from the new financial year.
The dispute relates to a payment of Rs 160 crore for this period, sources said. With payments due to employees, insolvency experts suggested, BCCI’s dues would get lower precedence as it is an operational creditor. Yet, Byju’s is learnt to have communicated to BCCI that it wants to settle the matter amicably.
The company has been in financial trouble for the last few months after a series of high-profile acquisitions and lack of fresh funding. It wants to exit some of the companies that it had acquired. It has laid off over 5,000 employees since October 2022 to cut costs.
After over a year’s delay, its financial results for FY22 revealed Rs 2,253 crore in EBITDA losses