Holders of Byju’s $1.2-billion term loan and their advisers are weighing options, including negotiating with the company for an amendment, litigating or attempting to seize collateral after the company missed an interest payment on the debt, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The group mulled options on a call held late Wednesday, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The company earlier reached out to a broad group of lenders and scheduled a call on Monday to discuss a loan amendment proposal, Bloomberg previously reported.
The company and lenders’ advisers Houlihan Lokey Inc. and Kirkland & Ellis didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment outside of normal US business hours.
The education-technology company and its lenders are mired in a fight over the term loan after the firm breached terms of its debt agreement. On Monday, it elected to skip an interest payment on the loan and filed a lawsuit in New York alleging a group of investors manufactured a fake debt crisis to extort money from the firm.
The lender group called the lawsuit meritless and “simply an effort to avoid complying with its obligations, including making contractually required payments,” in a news release issued Thursday. The group said it has sought to work constructively with Byju’s to cure numerous defaults and will continue to do so, but the group reserves all rights available to enforce the credit agreement.
Advisers asked the lender group this week to extend a cooperation agreement set to expire next month by an additional six months, the people said. Such a pact binds the lenders to act together in negotiations.
Byju’s had been trying to strike a deal with creditors to restructure the loan after the pandemic-era online tutoring boom tapered off, crimping its finances. But negotiations fell apart when creditors demanded an accelerated repayment.
The company’s loan is now quoted at around 64.5 cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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Published on June 9, 2023
