Macquarie slashes Byju's valuation by 98% after Swiss bank Julius Baer's red flag

Macquarie slashes Byju’s valuation by 98% after Swiss bank Julius Baer’s red flag

Macquarie Capital is reportedly writing down nearly its entire investment in Byju’s, after Swiss bank Julius Baer Group alleged the edtech firm charged fees based on an outsized and outdated valuation.

The unit of Australia’s Macquarie Group is, according to Bloomberg, is cutting the value of its stake in the beleaguered education provider by about 98% . Macquarie Capital had reportedly invested a few hundred millions of dollars in Byju’s in 2021. Business Today could not independently verify the report.

Julius Baer’s clients had invested via a feeder fund into a Macquarie vehicle that held the Byju’s stake.

Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran on Saturday said the edtech company will not be able to pay salaries to employees as the recent funds raised through a rights issue are inaccessible due to a legal dispute with certain investors.

In a letter to staff, Raveendran said the rights issue, launched a month ago, has been successfully closed.

“This was supposed to be a happy correspondence. After all, we now have funds to meet our short-term needs and clear our liabilities. However, I regret to inform you that we will still be unable to process your salaries,” he said.

In the letter, Raveendran said the company is still striving to ensure that salaries are paid by March 10.

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