Wolters Kluwer agrees sale of education wing to private equity firm

In a move to encourage growth and pay off debts, Wolters Kluwer , a global player in information services and publishing, have announced an agreement to sell their education division to private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital.

Mike Black, partner at Bridgepoint , said: “We believe Wolters Kluwer Education has significant potential to develop further by accelerating its expansion plans in e-learning, new product development and through possible market consolidation opportunities.”

The net proceeds will also be used for a share buy-back program, and is expected to return around €475 million of the proceeds to shareholders in June when the deal is expected to complete. The sale will generate an estimated €774 million worth of revenue for the organisation and includes all the organisations educational interests, which generate €316 million worth of revenue.

Nancy McKinstry , CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Wolters Kluwer said, “With the sale of the Education division Wolters Kluwer has taken another important step to enhance value for our shareholders and support the company’s strategy to accelerate profitable growth. Our objective from the beginning was to provide the business with the best opportunities for future expansion”.

This follows an announcement in September last year outlining the Wolters Kluwer corporate strategy didn’t include its educational branch. Similarly, the Thomson Corporation announced in October 2006 of their intention to open up bids for Thomson Learning in the first quarter of 2007. The combined revenues a Thomson Learning sale could generate may be as much as $5bn, somewhat dwarfing the Wolters Kluwer Education acquisition.

With rival publishers moving to offload their educational divisions, it is not surprising that private equity has moved in as a buyer rather than a traditional competitor.

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!