Byju’s CEO speaks to shareholders, firm to set up board advisory committee

Byju Raveendran, CEO and founder of the eponymous edtech giant, has told shareholders that the company will set up a board advisory committee (BAC). This was part of a discussion on July 4 with shareholders at an emergency general meeting (EGM).

Raveendran also said that in the next EGM in three weeks will give details about BAC’s members and composition.

“The BAC will serve as a working group consisting of independent directors with credible backgrounds and relevant experience from diverse corporate fields. Its primary purpose will be to provide advice and guidance to the CEO on matters pertaining to the composition of the board and the governance structure suitable for a company of Byju’s scale, size, and performance aspirations,” said a source close to the development.

Byju’s management told shareholders that negotiations continue with lenders for Term Loan B and are expected to have a favourable outcome. “The CEO stated that active and constructive discussions have taken place, and there are reasons to be optimistic about a mutually acceptable resolution. He emphasized that both parties involved in the issue are motivated to avoid legal proceedings and seek a resolution that benefits all involved parties,” said another source.

The EGM is being called to discuss issues like Aakash IPO timeline, Audit timeline, TLB resolution, and fund-raising.

Separately, a company spokesperson said reports of Raveendran being asked to step down or withdraw from daily operations were not true.

“I can confirm that at the EGM, there was no discussion on potential CEO change. This topic never came up and was not on the EGM agenda” said Saurabh Gupta, managing partner at DST Global.

Ajay Goel, chief financial officer at Byju’s, who was also on the call with shareholders, said that an audit of some group subsidiaries was completed for FY22. The audit for Aakash, WhiteHat Jr, and Think & Learn is currently underway, with the aim of optimizing the timelines.

“The management reiterated the timeline for the completion of the FY22 audit is the end of September, while the FY23 audit is expected to be concluded by the end of December,” said the source.

This is the second shareholder meeting that the company has had to call in recent times. On June 24, Raveendran and Goel and group general counsel Roshan Thomas held a virtual meeting with shareholders after auditor Deloitte and three board members resigned.

According to PrivateCircle data, Raveendran along with Divya Gokulnath and Riju Ravindran now hold a 21.2 per cent stake in Think & Learn, the holding company.