Fraser Perring has said the Belgian firm’s investment in Byju’s is overvalued, sending Sofina’s shares into a slump.
“It is not an edtech company now, is it?” That’s Viceroy Research’s Fraser Perring speaking to me about Byju’s on the phone from London.
It has been a few days since Perring announced his next short target: Belgian venture investment firm Sofina Group. With a net worth of 11.4 billion euro, or about $12.3 billion, and a 120-year history, Sofina Group has investments in Europe, Asia and the US. As of December 2021, Bengaluru-based edtech giant Byju’s is among Sofina’s top 10 investments.
Perring believes Byju’s is an unsound business, and so he has put a short position on Sofina, …
Ashish is the editor-in-chief of The Morning Context. One of the best-known business feature writers in India, he was selected for Germany’s Robert Bosch Stiftung Fellowship in 2012 and received the Mumbai Press Club RedInk certificate of recognition in 2015 for his story “Inside the Network 18 takeover”. Before joining The Morning Context, Ashish co-founded The Ken, where he was managing editor. His previous writing stints include Mint, Forbes India and The Economic Times.
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