Prosus Marks Down Entire $578M Stake in Byju's Following Valuation Decline

Dutch investment firm Prosus has written off USD 578 million, approximately Rs 4,800 crore, invested in the edtech company Byjus. This information was disclosed by the company on Monday. Prosus had lost significant influence over Think and Learn, the owner of the Byjus brand, in September 2022 when its stake decreased to 9.6 per cent.

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Prosus' Valuation of Byjus

In its annual report for the fiscal year ending in 2024, Prosus stated that it accounts for its 9.60 per cent effective interest in BYJU’S at fair value through other comprehensive income. The fair value of BYJU’S investment after losing significant influence is USD 578 million. In November, Prosus valued Byjus below USD 3 billion, which is an 86 per cent drop from the edtech firm's peak valuation of USD 22 billion.

PayU's Performance and Growth

On a different note, Prosus recorded growth in its payment arm, PayU. The consolidated revenue of PayU increased by 22 per cent to USD 1.1 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024. This growth was driven by the PSP (payment service provider) businesses in Turkey (Iyzico) and India, as well as India credit.

India remains the largest market for PayU’s PSP business, contributing to 46 per cent of core PSP revenues and 60 per cent of total payments volume (TPV). Despite an embargo that prevented onboarding new merchants during the year, India’s revenue grew by 11 per cent to USD 444 million. The TPV in India grew by 22 per cent due to strong growth in ecommerce, financial services, and government segments.

Impact of Embargo on PayU India

PayU received in-principle authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India on April 23 to operate as a payment aggregator after a 15-month embargo. This move allows PayU India to onboard new merchants again. However, the embargo impacted trading profit margins; while PayU's payments business in India achieved a 3 per cent trading profit margin in FY23, this worsened to negative 3 per cent in FY24 due to changes in merchant and payment method mix.

Loan Issuance by PayU India

PayU’s India credit issued USD 873 million in loans and expanded its loan book to USD 468 million in FY24. This growth highlights the company's ability to adapt and expand despite regulatory challenges.

Prosus is among four investors who have approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against Byjus management concerning a USD 200 million rights issue.