India’s most valuable startup BYJU’S has raised $1.2 billion through Term Loan B (TLB) funding, becoming the second company to have raised a TLB in India after hospitality unicorn Oyo.
Per a regulatory filing, the EdTech major will use the proceeds to fund general corporate purposes offshore, including to support business growth in North America and fund potential inorganic growth opportunities.
BYJU’S had earlier planned to raise $700 million, but the round was upsized with recommitments due later. Sources said the term loan will be a five-year duration credit facility, with a 6.78 percent interest yield on the maturity of the loan. The company is reportedly working with American multinational investment banks JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley to structure the term loan.
Kamal Yadav, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, said, “The historic success of BYJU’S TLB (Term Loan B, also called an institutional term loan), as the largest unrated TLB from India and Asia as well as one of the largest unrated TLB globally in history, reflects the strong credit story of the company as one of the largest and fastest-growing global EdTech platforms.”
BYJU’S, which has spent over $2 billion in mergers and acquisitions in 2021, also has plans for a couple of more acquisitions to drive international expansion.
In September, BYJU’S acquired US-based coding startup Tynker for about $200 million. Prior to that, it acquired upskilling platform Great Learning for $600 million and plans to invest $400 million more in this segment, as it looks to expand its education services globally across categories. Overall, the Bengaluru-based firm has made nine acquisitions in the EdTech space this year and has acquired more than 15 since its inception.
The company has also recently acquired the online test prep platform Gradeup to bolster its presence in the fast-growing online competitive examination preparation category.
In October, BYJU’S announced a fundraise of INR 2,200 crore (about $296 million) in a new funding round led by Oxshott Venture Fund, Edelweiss Private Investments Trust, with participation from IIFL, Verition Multi-Strategy Master Fund, XN Exponent Holdings, bringing the company’s valuation to $18 billion. Earlier this year, the EdTech decacorn expanded in overseas markets through its ‘Future School’ offering in the US, UK, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico.
BYJU’S claims to have over 100 million registered students including 6.5 million paid subscribers on its platform. The company recorded an 82.31% surge in its revenue from operations to Rs 2,381 crore in FY20 from Rs 1,306 crore in the previous year.
