India's most-valued ed-tech startup BYJUs has finally received an 'unqualified' report from auditor Deloitte on its financial results for FY21 that will be shared with the board members this week and with the equity and debt investors next week, top sources said on Monday.
An ‘unqualified’ report signifies that the company's financial statements are honest and open and are supported by extensive investigation, putting to rest any rumours concerning BYJU's dire financial situation. The ed-tech company will conduct a board meeting in a day or two, according to people familiar with the situation, before releasing the audited financial figures for FY21 next week, most likely on September 6.
According to people close to the matter, the 'unqualified' report comes as a major sigh of relief for the company that has been under pressure to file its FY21 audited report amid delay and scrutiny. Sources told IANS that the last few months of delay were unfortunate and a clean Deloitte audit report has instilled "a lot of confidence in the board members of BYJUs" as they prepare to meet this week.
BYJU's, last valued at $22 billion, faced larger scrutiny from the government as it has failed to submit its audited financial report even after more than 17 months. The long delay alarmed the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) which sent a letter to BYJUs earlier this month, asking the ed-tech giant to explain the delay in filing its audit report for FY21.
The IPO-bound BYJUs had completed the consolidation of businesses after "ironing out the complexities" as the ed-tech unicorn made at least 10 acquisitions for a cumulative transaction value of about $2.5 billion last year.
So far, BYJUs has raised over $6 billion in funding and aims to file an IPO in the US through the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) route. The company is also reportedly in talks to raise another $1 billion as it expands globally.
According to reports, BYJUs is eyeing Nasdaq-listed American ed-tech company, 2U, for nearly $1 billion at $15 a share.
(with inputs from IANS)
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