Think and Learn Private Ltd (TLPL) – the parent of edutech firm Byju’s – has been rolled into the bankruptcy resolution process.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted a petition moved by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the firm defaulted on the payment of ₹158 crore.

A bench comprising judicial member K. Biswal and technical member Manoj Kumar Dubey appointed Pankaj Srivastava as the interim resolution professional (IRP). The IRP has to submit his written consent within a week. Once he accepts the appointment, the IRP will be required to send regular progress reports every fortnight.

The Bengaluru bench of the tribunal also dismissed Byju’s plea to refer the dispute to arbitration saying that it was “not maintainable”.

It is learnt that Byju’s is likely to challenge the order at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.

“We wish to reach an amicable settlement with BCCI and we are confident that, despite this order, a settlement can be reached. In the meantime, our lawyers are reviewing the order and will take necessary steps to protect the company’s interests,” said a spokesperson for Byju’s.

Byju Raveendran, founder of the eponymous edutech firm, is at risk of losing management control of the firm that he built in 2011. It was valued at $22 billion in 2022. But since then, Byju’s has lurched from one crisis to another, which sent its valuation crashing to less than $200 million.

Earlier this year, a clutch of foreign investors including Prosus and Peak XV (formerly Sequoia Capital India) voted to remove Raveendran as CEO at an EGM on the grounds of “mismanagement and failures". Raveendran has denied the allegations and disputed the validity of the vote.

The tribunal has asked the IRP to collate the financial claims against the firm and then form a Committee of Creditors (CoC). He has been directed to file a report, certifying constitution of the panel to the tribunal within 30 days of his appointment.

With the initiation of the insolvency process, no fresh suits can be filed against the company. The suit also triggers a freeze on Byju’s assets.

The two parties had entered into a ‘team sponsor agreement’ on July 2019.

The 38-page order said that even though the agreement was supposed to continue till March 31, 2002, the two parties continued with the arrangement. As a result, Byju’s continued as the sponsor of the Indian cricket teams till March 31, 2023.

The company was required to pay a sum equivalent to 50 per cent of the aggregate fee pertaining to a series not later than 30 days prior to the first scheduled match of such series. The rest was to be paid within a period of five days of the last match in that series.

In early 2023, Byju's had said that it would not be renewing its sponsorship deal with BCCI and other bodies.

However, the allegation is that after March 31, 2022, Byju’s made payment in full only against one invoice for 2022-23, amounting to ₹ 25.35 crore through an invoice dated May 20, 2022. It failed to make payments against subsequent invoices raised by BCCI for 2022-23. Byju’s permitted BCCI to encash a bank guarantee of ₹143 crore to cover dues till the ICC World Cup 2022 but it wasn’t enough to cover all the dues to the board.