Qatar fund moves Karnataka HC to recover from Byju’s $235 million awarded by Singapore arbitration centre
In September 2022, Qatar Holdings LLC lent $150 million to Byju’s Investments Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Singapore-registered Byju’s Global, with the loan being guaranteed by Byju Raveendran.
The sovereign wealth fund said in a press statement that the origins of the dispute went back to September 2022, when Qatar Holdings LLC lent $150 million to Byju’s Investments Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Singapore-registered Byju’s Global, with the loan being guaranteed by Byju Raveendran. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons) In the latest challenge facing edtech firm Byju’s and CEO Byju Raveendran, the Qatar Investment Authority, which is Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, has moved the Karnataka High Court to enforce an arbitral award of $235 million, in accordance with a July 14 order of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
The petition, filed by the fund’s subsidiary, Qatar Holdings LLC, calls for the order against Raveendran and Byju’s Investments Private Limited to be enforced with the payment of the sum, alongside an annual compounding interest rate of 4 per cent starting from February 28 last year.
It also calls for them to be restrained from selling, transferring, etc any of their assets, alongside a full disclosure of their assets, along with the location, description, and value. It also seeks attachment of the properties and appointment of a receiver to dispose of them and thus satisfy the arbitral award. As an interim injunction, it calls for the disposal/transfer of the properties to be restrained.
Qatar Holdings LLC had previously been unsuccessful before the Karnataka High Court this April, when it attempted to obtain a restraint on the sale or disposal of Byjus’ assets. The court declined to grant an interim relief at the time, as it had noted that the relief could also be granted by the arbitral tribunal.
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