Netherlands-based technology investor Prosus on Wednesday said it values the beleaguered edtech firm BYJU’S at less than $3 billion, an 86% decline from its peak valuation of $22 billion last year.
In its annual report filed in June, Prosus said it has slashed the fair value of BYJU’S to $5.1 billion, the second markdown by the investor in less than a year. Prosus, which has a 9.6% stake in the company, had valued its stake in BYJU’S at $578 million at the end of the September quarter last year, pegging the firm’s valuation at $5.97 billion.
Prosus’s statement comes months after its representative Russel Deisenstock resigned from the BYJU’S board, as its “reporting and governance structures did not evolve sufficiently for a company of that scale” and it “regularly disregarded advice” from the technology investor’s director.
GV Ravishankar, a Managing Director at Peak XV Partners; and Vivian Wu of Chan Zuckerberg also resigned from the company’s board at the time.
Earlier this month, BYJU’S reported audited results for 2022 but only for its core business, not including its multi-billion dollar acquisitions, after a year-long delay due to governance issues and its auditor resigning.
Prosus also listed BYJU’S and PharmEasy as ‘large underperformers’ weighing down on returns in the H1 2024 report. Other portfolio companies that fetched the investor positive returns included Meesho, ElasticRun, Payu, Eruditus, and Swiggy.
Since Sept 2022, Prosus began classifying BYJU’S as a non-controlling investment rather than an associate as its shareholding fell below 10%.
In August, Baron Capital cut the fair value of BYJU’S to $13.2 billion, while asset management firm BlackRock, which holds a minority stake in the edtech firm, marked down its valuation to $8.4 billion last year.