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Two major US assets sold at a 95%+ loss.
Deets: Byju’s just sold off Epic and Tynker, two US-based platforms it had acquired during its Covid-fueled expansion, for pennies on the dollar.
- Epic, once bought for $500M, went for just $95M to China’s TAL Education.
- Tynker, acquired for $200M, was sold for $2.2M to CodeHS via a 48-round bankruptcy auction.
Why it matters: these weren’t just portfolio trims. They were court-approved distress sales under bankruptcy proceedings in Delaware, designed to recover part of Byju’s $1.2 billion loan, now in default.
Context: Epic, Tynker, and Osmo had all been used as guarantors for Byju’s syndicated loan. After defaulting 17 months ago, the company faced multiple legal battles, triggering forced asset sales.
Backstory: at the pandemic’s peak, Byju’s went on an aggressive M&A spree, snapping up global ed-tech platforms to fuel its international ambitions, mostly funded by debt. But with revenues slowing and financial controls under question, that expansion has collapsed into a debt crisis.
Bottomline: what was once India’s most valuable startup is now in the middle of a global fire sale, trying to repay creditors while its valuation crumbles and its governance is under siege.
