A US judge on Thursday (March 14, 2024) directed that Indian tech firm Think & Learn Pvt, which operates education startup Byju’s, must freeze USD 533 million to protect the money for disgruntled lenders who claim the cash should be used to pay them, media reports said.
The decision given by US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey is seen by experts as a mixed victory for lenders.
They earlier demanded the money be placed under the control of the federal court to prevent the cash from being spent by the Indian education-tech firm, which operates under the name Byju’s, reported Bloomberg.
The order given by the judge was aimed at the company’s director Riju Raveendran.
He is the brother of Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran.
Ravindran’s attorney, Sheron Korpus, argued that the lenders are at fault for any financial woes suffered by Think & Learn, reported Bloomberg.
The company was justified in keeping the money away from the lenders because they had been overly aggressive in claiming the debt was in default, Korpus told Dorsey.
Think & Learn is currently fighting the lenders in state courts in Delware and New York.
Lenders had previously seized control of a holding company set up by Think & Learn to issue USD 1.2 billion in debt. That unit, Byju’s Alpha, is now in bankruptcy under Dorsey’s oversight, reported Bloomberg.