BYJU’s says will file FY21 results by July 15

NEW DELHI: Edtech giant BYJU's on Saturday denied reports that its auditor Deloitte is yet to sign off its 2020-21 (FY21) financial results, saying that the company will file the financial results by July 15.

In a statement to IANS, BYJU's which was last valued at $22 billion "strongly denied" the reports.

"We strongly deny the allegations about Deloitte not signing our results. Our FY21 results will be out by July 15," a company spokesperson said. Earlier reports said last month that BYJU's auditor Deloitte hasn't yet signed off on its 2021 financials and "its reticence comes from the lending and accounting decisions that BYJU's has made". BYJU's then said that it has completed the consolidation of businesses, a process that was on for some time, and will be filing its financial results soon. The edtech unicorn made at least 10 acquisitions for a cumulative transaction value of about $2.5 billion last year. Multiple acquisitions were made in FY21 and each of these acquisitions had a different accounting style and year, according to the company. BYJU's said that all business practices, from student success to governance and accounting standards, have been in operation for the last six years, have been audited by Deloitte and records are submitted to all relevant authorities over these years. The company also said that the acquisition process of Aakash Educational Services is on track and is expected to be completed by August. BYJU's acquired Delhi-based offline test preparatory services provider Aakash for $1 billion last year. A company spokesperson had told IANS that the acquisition of "Aakash is fully on track and all payments are expected to be completed by the agreed upon date, i.e., August 2022". "Aakash is our most successful acquisition till date and we are very proud to have them in our fold," the spokesperson added. So far, BYJU's has raised over $6 billion in funding, with its Founder and CEO Byju Raveendran infusing $400 million from his own pocket, during the latest $800 million funding round at a valuation of $22 billion in March. BYJUs is also aiming to file an IPO in the US through the SPAC route. The edtech company is in for a big change with Raveendran set to focus his energies on global operations, especially in the US, as the Indian online edtech market shrinks considerably with schools, colleges and tuition centres reopening. The company is also reportedly in talks to raise another $1 billion as it expands globally. According to reports, BYJU's is eyeing Nasdaq-listed edtech company, 2U, for nearly $1 billion at $15 a share.