Prosus Writes Off USD 578M in Byju's Amid Shifting Stake Dynamics

Dutch investment firm Prosus has written off USD 578 million invested in edtech giant Byju's. The write-off follows a decrease in Prosus's stake to 9.6%. Despite the setback, Prosus's payment arm, PayU, demonstrated significant growth, especially in India, with increased revenues and transaction volumes.

Dutch investment firm Prosus has announced a substantial financial write-off of USD 578 million, an investment initially made in the education technology firm Byju's.

According to Prosus's annual fiscal report for 2024, the write-off follows a reduction in the company's stake in Byju's to 9.6%, resulting in a loss of significant influence over the firm.

The report highlights that Prosus, one of the four investors to approach the NCLT against Byju's management, has valued the edtech company below USD 3 billion, significantly down from its peak valuation of USD 22 billion.

In contrast, Prosus's payment arm, PayU, recorded strong growth, with consolidated revenue increasing 22% to USD 1.1 billion, driven by business activities in Turkey and India.

PayU achieved a substantial milestone, receiving in-principle authorization from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a payment aggregator, which enables the onboarding of new merchants.

Despite facing an embargo, PayU's operations in India accounted for a significant portion of its revenue and total payment volume, demonstrating robust growth in ecommerce, financial services, and government sectors.

The report also noted a downturn in PayU India's trading profit margin, from 3% in FY23 to negative 3% in FY24, attributed to changes in merchant and payment method mix due to the embargo.

Additionally, PayU's India credit business issued USD 873 million in loans, expanding its loan book to USD 468 million in the last fiscal year.