Mumbai: Indian edtech giant BYJU'S is in advanced discussions to go public through one of Churchill Capital's special-purpose acquisition companies (SPAC), Bloomberg News reported.

BYJU'S has held talks with several potential SPAC partners and was working out an agreement with Michael Klein's Churchill Capital, it was reported.The startup would raise a total of about $four billion and seek a valuation of about $48 billion. Churchill Capital VII raised more than $1.3 billion in an offering in February and trades on the New York Stock Exchange. 

The edtech company was valued at $21 billion, according to market research firm CB Insights. While an announcement could come as soon as January, the negotiations are not final. Byju’s or Churchill could still opt out of such a deal, and Byju’s could consider an IPO in India next year, the report said, citing sources. 

BYJU'S had earlier discussed a SPAC merger with Michael Dell’s MSD Acquisition Corp and Altimeter Capital Management, the report said.

The startup had been aiming to file preliminary documents for a traditional initial public offering as soon as the second quarter of 2022 and was also considering a SPAC merger, Bloomberg News reported in September.

Bangalore-based BYJU's founded by Byju Raveendran, provides K-12 lessons, video material and one-to-one coding, math and reading classes and material to students in India and in countries in North America, the Middle East and Latin America.

The startup is backed by US investment firm Tiger Global, Mark Zuckerberg’s Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia Capital India and BlackRock to name a few.