Edtech giant Byju’s has raised an unsecured loan of Rs 300 crore from Aakash Educational Services, its wholly-owned subsidiary, regulatory filings showed.
The loan comes at a time when Byju’s is cutting costs by firing employees and winding down operations in cities like Thiruvananthapuram.
Aakash’s regulatory filings showed the loan was extended to Byju’s for “principal business activities” and an annual interest rate of 7.5%. Aakash’s board of directors — subject to shareholders’ nod — okayed the unsecured loan to Think & Learn Pvt, the company that operates Byju’s.
“(The loan) is in effect an advance against the marketing activities and campaigns that Byju’s has been running for Aakash. In order to benefit from the economies of scale, Byju’s buys media spots in bulk for all its group companies,” a Byju’s spokesperson said.
“This is a strategy that has yielded really positive results for both the group and Aakash. As you might be already aware, Byju’s Aakash has grown more than 100% since the acquisition.”
Byju’s had acquired Aakash for about $1 billion in 2021, one of the largest deals in the space. The company, however, deferred some of its payments of the deal and eventually settled $250 million that it owed Blackstone in September.
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