New Delhi, Jun 7 (IANS): In what could be a shocker to many, edtech firm Byju’s, which was once valued at $22 billion, is now worth zero, according to a research note by financial firm HSBC.

HSBC has assigned zero value to investment company Prosus' nearly 10 per cent stake (or about $500 million) in Byju’s.

"We assign zero value to Byju’s stake amid multiple legal cases and funding crunch,” according to the HSBC note.

“Previously, we valued around 10 per cent stake in Byju’s by applying an 80 per cent discount to the latest publicly disclosed valuation,” the note added.

The embattled edtech firm is struggling to pay employee salaries amid mounting legal battles.

"Byju's is facing multiple headwinds. We and other shareholders are working everyday to improve the situation. We are in close discussions with the company every day," a senior Prosus executive was quoted as saying in reports late last year.

In fact, Byju’s was preparing to go public in early 2022 through an SPAC deal that would have valued the company at up to $40 billion.

In January this year, US-based investment firm BlackRock cut the value of its holding in Byju's to a mere $1 billion from $22 billion in early 2022.

BlackRock owns less than 1 per cent of Byju’s.

Earlier this week, a group of lenders petitioned against the new entities tied to Byju's US subsidiary into bankruptcy in a US court, alleging that these entities are not paying their debts.