ZEEL forms panel to ‘protect investors’

Byju’s shareholders on Friday voted unanimously for removing founder CEO Byju Raveendran and his family from the board over alleged “mismanagement and failures” at what was once India’s hottest edtech startup, but the company dug in its heels, calling the voting done in the absence of the founders as ‘invalid and ineffective’.

Mr. Raveendran, his wife and brother — the only three members on the board as of now — stayed

Byju Raveendran

away from the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) called by a group of six investors, who collectively hold more than 32% in Think & Learn (T&L), the firm that operates Byju’s.

At the end, more than 60% of the shareholders voted in favour of all the seven resolutions, which included removing the current management, reconfiguration of the board and a third party forensic investigation into acquisitions done by the company, sources close to the investors said.

Sources close to Byju’s put the number at 47%.

The Karnataka High Court had earlier refused to stay the EGM but stated that any resolution passed shall not be given effect till the next date of hearing. Mr. Raveendran and family own 26.3% in T&L.

With the fall in its stock price after the collapse of the merger deal with Sony, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. has decided to constitute an Independent Advisory Committee “to review the widespread circulation of misinformation and rumours that has led to the formation of negative public opinion about the company and consequent erosion of investor wealth,” the company said.