Byju's looking to settle with 2 of its operational creditors

Byju's trying to settle with two operational creditors

Education technology firm Byju's is exploring out-of-court settlements with two of its creditors, Teleperformance and Surfer Technologies, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) was told on May 28.

Appearing for the embattled edtech firm, senior advocate Pramod Nair urged the tribunal to adjourn the insolvency pleas filed to the third week of June to enable settlement talks between Bjyu’s and the two operational creditors.

The NCLT adjourned the cases to June 26.

There are two kinds of creditors under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. Operational creditors provide goods and services to a business, while financial creditors are those who lend money to the company.

While it has been trying to settle with Teleperformance, a French firm, for over a month, it was during the May 28 hearing that the company expressed its intention to settle with Surfer.

Nair told the tribunal that since the outstanding amounts were not big, Byju's was trying to work out a settlement.

Byju's owes Surfer Technologies Rs. 2.3 crore and all of it admitted debts, the company said in an earlier hearing.

According to Surfer, they were generating leads for Byju's and passing them on. The leads were overseen and authorised by the edtech company.

NCLT had in April asked Byju's to settle with Teleperformance but nothing came of it come of it.

During the hearing, the tribunal warned the two sides to come to a settlement soon, saying the matter can’t be prolonged.

Byju's and Teleperformance entered into a service agreement on April 2022 and the French firm generated more than 20 invoices amounting to over Rs 4 crore between March and August 2023, which went unpaid.

According to Teleperformance, Byju's agreed to a staggered payment — Rs 1.5 crore in the first trance, Rs 2 crore in the second and Rs 2.2 crore in the final tranche.

Byju's also sought time to file a response to mobile phone maker Oppo's insolvency plea. NCLT adjourned all the pleas to June 26.

Seven petitions are pending against Byju's with the Bengaluru bench of NCLT.