Why Manipal and upGrad want Byju's—and what's really at stake

Two of India's biggest education firms are now circling Byju's bankrupt parent, Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd (TLPL), setting up a closelywatched insolvency battle at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

- Salman S.H.

Manipal Group and upGrad submitted expressions of interest to acquire some or all of Byju's parent, TLPL's assets

(REUTERS)

The Manipal Group, led by Ranjan Pai, and upGrad, chaired by Ronnie Screwvala, have both filed expressions of interest (EOI) to acquire some or all of the edtech firm's assets.

Mint unpacks how the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) for TLPL is likely to move from here, how competing bids from Manipal and upGrad will be weighed in a case involving roughly 1,780 creditors, and how any winning offer will ultimately depend on whether creditors are convinced about the bidder's ability to pay-judging their cash position, funding plans and overall balancesheet strength.

Valued at $22 billion at its peak in 2022., TLPL is now in the middle of a long-drawn insolvency process that has laid bare years of aggressive expansion and governance lapses.

The Byju's parent raised at least $4 billion from global investors such as Tiger Global, General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital India, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Silver Lake, B Capital and others, and spent heavily on marquee acquisitions including Aakash Educational Services, WhiteHat Jr, Epic and Great Learning.