Byju’s in talks to go public via SPAC at $48bn valuation: Sources

Byju’s is in advanced discussions for a public listing in the US in partnership with Michael Klein’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that could value the Indian edtech giant at USD 48 billion, sources said.

Advanced discussions are ongoing with Churchill Capital’s SPAC about the deal that could be completed in the next few months, sources close to the development said. They added that Byju’s — the most valued edtech startup in India — would raise about USD 4 billion at a valuation of about USD 48 billion.

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Byju’s did not respond to queries, while comments couldn’t be immediately elicited from Churchill Capital. Several companies use the SPAC route to go public in the US. SPACs are publicly listed investment vehicles that have no operations and are formed with the intention of merging with a private company.

Earlier this year, leading Indian startups, including players like Swiggy and Byju’s, had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to expedite a policy that allowed Indian firms to list directly on foreign exchanges. Byju’s is backed by marquee investors, including General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Naspers, Silver Lake and Tiger Global. The edtech space has seen strong growth globally, including in India, with the COVID-19 pandemic serving as an inflection point.

Many offline classes went online to ensure continuity of education while adhering to social distancing norms. Byju’s app has over 115 million registered students and 7 million annual paid subscriptions. An average time of 71 minutes is being spent daily from over 1,700 cities.