Bengaluru, June 17 -- Upskilling platform Great Learning says its $600 million cash-and-stock sale to Byju's in 2021 was a financial deal, not a strategic integration, and that it remained operationally separate even as the parent firm slipped into a financial meltdown over the next three years.

The company's management also retained control throughout that period, helping it preserve its culture, cost discipline and growth trajectory, said Arjun Nair, co-founder and chief operating officer of Great Learning, in an interview with Mint.

"At that time, all our competitors were also raising a lot of money, and we were operating in that environment. We were bootstrapped until that point. In 2021, when we had the need to raise funds, we thou...