Ajay Goel, CFO of Byju, goes back to Vedanta Ltd. to manage restructuring

Ajay Goel, CFO of Byju, goes back to Vedanta Ltd. to manage restructuring

The change occurs just before the company was scheduled to report its FY22 audited financials in the second week of October.

Ajay Goel, the chief financial officer (CFO) of edtech startup Byju, is going back to Vedanta Ltd. The firm recruited the seasoned global finance expert in April to improve its financial processes, long-term business plans, and road to profitability.

Pradip Kanakia, a seasoned professional in the field, has been appointed senior adviser as part of Byju's new leadership changes in the financial sector. Nitin Golani, who is now the finance president, also took on additional responsibilities as the CFO of India.

"I want to thank the Byju's founders and employees for helping me put together the FY22 audit in only three months. I value the help I had throughout my brief but significant employment at Byju's," Goel added. When the procedures for the FY22 audit are finished, he will transition.

Goel was in charge of managing and directing Byju's financial strategy in his capacity as CFO. On strategy formulation, capital planning, and financial analysis, he collaborated closely with the company's founders and top executives. Goel has a history of producing outstanding financial and operational outcomes for businesses across industries, including Vedanta, Diageo, GE, Coca-Cola, and Nestle.

Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath, the company's founders, are optimistic about the new group. "Their experience, understanding, as well as information on finances and business will help us in our ongoing turnaround efforts," stated Raveendran and Gokulnath. We genuinely appreciate everything that Ajay has done and achieved in such a short time. We wish him well in his endeavors moving forward.

Pradip Kanakia, Byju's senior adviser, has a distinguished career spanning over 35 years and has held top roles at Price Waterhouse and KPMG. He brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. He has managed audits for top Indian and global firms with experience in finance strategy, transformation, performance management, accounting, auditing, reporting, controls, compliance, including governance.

"I look forward to working through the Founders, Advisory Council as well as Nitin in navigating the transformation process throughout the company," Kanakia stated.

 Nitin Golani, the new president of finance and chief financial officer for India, was formerly the chief strategy officer for Aakash Education. He was a key player in Byju's $1 billion purchase of Aakash in 2021 and assumed an operational position there after the transaction. Golani is a chartered accountant who started his career at Grant Thornton Bharat and has worked for Accenture Strategy and MetLife. On strategy formulation, capital planning, and financial analysis, he will collaborate closely with the board, founders, and senior leadership.

According to Nitin Golani, a committed staff will help him step into the new position. "I pledge to make sure Byju's growth is strong and long-lasting. "My current goal is to maximize shareholder value through improved financial performance," Golani stated.

 Ajay Goel's return to Vedanta is being publicized at the same time as Byju has just announced intentions to call a board meeting for the second week of October 2023 to report its audited financials for FY22.

Select invitees and members of its Advisory Council were anticipated at the gathering. Key investors were supposed to receive the financial statements, and the board was supposed to officially accept the audited reports.

Investors including the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, BlackRock, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia, Silver Lake, Bond Capital, Tencent, General Atlantic, and Tiger Global have contributed $5.8 billion to the company's total capital. Byju's management and its auditor, BDO, previously had a preliminary meeting, and shareholders were informed of it in a notice.

Other edtech unicorns including Unacademy, upGrad, and Vedantu have already filed their FY22 results to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), whereas Byju's has yet to do so. Investors and lenders who provided the business with a $1.2 billion term loan B are worried about this delay.

In FY21, the company recorded a loss of Rs 4,588 crore, a significant improvement over the prior year. Due to delays in releasing financial statements, its former auditor, Deloitte Haskins & Sells, and important investor representatives resigned.

Deloitte Haskins & Sells, Byju's auditor, resigned from its position on July 22 as a consequence of the firm postponing the reporting of financial reports. The company's top three investors, Prosus, Peak XV Partners, and Chang Zuckerberg Initiative, as well as the auditor, all tendered their resignations after the resignation of the auditor. Byju's CEO Byju Raveendran addressed the problem to shareholders and staff members after these resignations.

Recently, Byju's engaged BDO as its statutory auditor for the next five years and established an advisory council that included Mohandas Pai, the former CFO of Infosys, and Rajnish Kumar, the former chairman of BharatPe and the current chairman of the State Bank of India.

Arjun Mohan, the newly promoted CEO of Byju's India operations, is overseeing the reorganization effort as the company is experiencing financial difficulties.

roughly 4,000 workers will be let go by the corporation, representing roughly 11% of its workforce. The Bengaluru-based company fired off approximately 1,000 workers earlier this year as part of a "optimisation" plan, and then hundreds more were affected by following rounds of layoffs.

Oil to metals conglomerate Vedanta Ltd. informed BSE Limited on Tuesday that the appointment of Ajay Goel as the company's chief financial officer (CFO) and key managerial personnel (KMP) with effect from October 30, 2023, was approved after consideration and on the advice of the nomination and remuneration committee and the audit while risk management committee.

"As part of Vedanta's disciplined re-hiring program called 'Gharwapsi', Mr Ajay Goel joins returning the company," said Vedanta. "Taken cognizance of the resignation of Ms Sonal Shrivastava form the post of chief financial officer (CFO) as well as key managerial personnel (KMP) of the company with reference from close of the business day on October 24, 2023, due to personal reasons."