Indian edtech start-up Byju’s asked a New York court to intervene in its dispute with lenders owed more than $1 billion, reported by Bloomberg. According to the news agency report, the company claimed a group of distressed-debt investors manufactured a fake debt crisis to extort money from Byju’s. In a lawsuit filed on Monday, the same day Byju's refused to make a $40 million interest payment, the firm argued that it hasn’t violated its US debt contract, as an agent for the lenders claims. The agent declared a default and demanded immediate repayment of the loan. Byju’s asked the court to dismiss the default.
According to the report, the edtech major was unable to comply with one term of the debt contract, the company argues, because of a change in Indian financial regulations. Another alleged violation of the terms was never meant to be considered a serious breach of the contract, the lawsuit claims. The company chalks up its current debt predicament to aggressive distressed-debt investors who, in its view, were never supposed to be able to buy the loan.
The debt contract prohibits lenders from selling their stakes to anyone on a list of “disqualified lenders” or investors who specialise in distressed debt, according to the lawsuit. Should that somehow happen, Byju’s has the right to force the disqualified lenders to sell back their pieces of the loan for the price they paid, plus certain fees, the company claimed in court documents.
The debt imbroglio has made Byju’s to miss a payment on a dollar loan. The company had been trying to strike a deal with creditors to restructure the facility, which itself is one of the biggest unrated term loan B offerings ever from a new-age economy company.
Byju’s accused the lenders’ agent, Glas Trust Company, of negotiating in bad faith. Byju’s offered to make the missed interest payment if Glas would withdraw its demand for $1.27 billion, which is the amount allegedly needed to pay off the loan principal, plus fees and expenses.