Indian ed-tech firm Byju's is in advanced talks to sell its U.S.-based kids' digital reading platform Epic! Creations for about $400 million to private equity fund Joffre Capital, seeking funds to ease its financial pressures, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Byju's has been looking to raise up to $1 billion by selling two companies - Great Learning and Epic - in a bid to streamline its business and repay lenders, Reuters reported in September
The potential sale of Epic would help Byju's fund its disputed $1.2 billion term loan, the Bloomberg report said, adding that other bidders, including Duolingo, which designs and develops mobile learning platforms, also expressed interest in buying Epic. Byju's, backed by investors such as General Atlantic, Prosus and Silver Lake, and valued at $22 billion last year, has been roiled by a string of setbacks, including its auditor and board members quitting. It has also been negotiating the repayment of a $1.2 billion loan in the last few months. The major acquisitions of Byju’s included the tutorial chain Aakash Educational Services in April 2021 for almost $1 billion in a cash-and-stock deal. Before that it had purchased coding tutor WhiteHatJr for $300 million. It also acquired Singapore-based Great Learning for $600 million in July 2021, which led to its foray into professional upskilling and life-long learning space.