Stake dilution. Byju’s promoters have sold shares worth $408.53-m in secondary deals since FY16

Promoters of ed-tech major Byju’s, Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath, and Riju Ravindran, have sold shares worth $408.53 million in 40 secondary transactions since 2015.

The promoter shareholding in the company has dipped from 71.6 per cent to 21.2 per cent since 2015-16, according to an analysis by PrivateCircle Research, a market intelligence platform.

Since 2015, Byju Raveendran individually sold 29,306 shares worth $3.28 million, his wife and co-founder Divya Gokulnath sold 64,565 shares worth $29.40 million, and brother Riju Ravindran sold 3,37.911shares worth $375.83 million.

Reinvestment claim

Recently, in a townhall address to employees, Raveendran reportedly said that “By reinvesting the entire amount received through secondary sales back into the company, my commitment to the mission and the conviction on the potential of Byju’s is unwavering and unshakeable.”

• Read: Why Byju’s rapid-fire growth sparks concerns

Over the years, multiple investors, including Silver Lake Partners, Blackrock, T Rowe Price, Chan Zuckerberg, Owl Ventures, Naspers, Times Internet, Lightspeed Ventures, Proxima Beta, Naspers Ventures, General Atlantic, and Alkeon, have participated in Byju’s secondary transactions.

Discounted deals

These secondary deals were often executed at a discounted valuation compared to the company’s primary valuation at that time.

For instance, an average of 53 per cent discount was observed in secondary sales during its Series F fund-raise. During this round, Byju’s promoters sold their shares in the price range of ₹1,12,126 to ₹1,64,000 a piece, while the Series F primary share price was in the range of ₹2,13,042-2,37,336, said the PrivateCircle report.

Promoters buy

Since 2012, Byju Raveendran purchased a total of 31,960 shares from multiple sellers including Raveendran Kunnaruvath (Raveendran’s father), and Byju employees Arunangshu Bhakta, Brijesh Maheshbhai Patel, Smit Rajanikant Patel, Unique Jain, and Pravin Prakash.

• Read: Byju’s seeks to raise $1 billion to sidestep shareholder revolt

Further, Divya Gokulnath purchased 4,666 shares from Navin Balan and Priya Mohan (founders of Vidyartha). Byju’s had acquired Vidhyartha in 2017. Riju Ravindran also purchased 100 shares from Mrinal Mohit (Byju’s COO). However, the value of these secondary purchases wasn’t ascertained.

Today, Byju’s promoters hold a 21.2 per cent stake in the edtech company. Individually, Raveendran holds 15.90 per cent, Divya Gokulnath 3.32 per cent and Riju Raveendran 1.99 per cent. Promoters’ shareholding has been gradually dropping since 2016. The first significant drop was in 2015-2016, from 71.6 per cent to 54.7 per cent. It came down to 34.7 per cent in 2019 and further to 21.2 per cent in 2023.

However, sources in the know of the developments claimed that the family’s entire amount received through secondary sales has been re-invested in the business. businessline could not independently verify the claim.

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