Legal
Indian Startup Byju’s Accuses Lenders of Extortion in Debt Fight
- Education company asks New York court to dismiss default claim
- Byju’s blames distressed debt investors for loan woes
Byju Raveendran, co-founder and chief executive officer of Byju’s.
Photographer: Christopher Pike/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
One of India’s hottest tech companies, Byju’s, asked a New York court to intervene in its dispute with lenders owed more than $1 billion, claiming a group of distressed-debt investors manufactured a fake debt crisis to extort money from the education-technology firm.
In a lawsuit filed Monday — the same day the company refused to make a $40 million interest payment — Byju’s argued that it hasn’t violated its US debt contract, as an agent for the lenders claims. The agent declared a default and demanded immediate repayment of the loan. Byju’s asked the court to dismiss the default.