Prosus writes off investment in Byju’s, records a loss of $493 million

Tech investor Prosus said in its FY24 annual report that it held a 9.6 per cent effective stake in Byju's before the company's rights issue.

Prosus marked down the value of its shareholding in Byju's to zero and noted loss in value of $493 million owing to investment in the edtech platform. Tech investor said in its FY24 annual report that it held a 9.6 per cent effective stake in Byju's before the company's rights issue.

Byju's logo is seen in this illustration. (Reuters)

"We have impaired Byju's down to zero at the end of FY24. We have written down Byju's primarily because we have inadequate information on company’s financial health, liabilities, and future outlook," it said.

"Edtech continues to be a very interesting area for us. At the same time, our busineses have not performed. We spent a lot of time to improve their performamce. We have three large positions in edtech- stack overflow, Skillsoft and Byjus . All three of them have not performed. Byjus we have written down to zero. Byju's has been an important contributor to challenged performance in the last year," Prosus said.

This comes as Prosus and other Byju's investors like Peak XV Partners have lodged legal challenges against the edtech company's management and its decisions. This includes a bid by the promoter family to do a rights issue.

"We are seeking protection of our rights and all shareholders. There are number of actions that the company’s management has taken. We have hope for the company's outlook. The key for us to change the governance of the company. That is the first step," the company's management said.