After nearly a year of investigating their options, Laureate Education Inc., hopes to graduate to a full stock tender buyout in the coming days, officials say. Laureate, (NASDAQ: LAUR) accepted an increased offer of $3.82 billion from an investor group led by Chairman and Chief Executive Douglas L. Becker. The group planned to commence a tender offer by Friday, giving investors the option of a $1.50 premium over their previous offer.
Major shareholders, including T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., and Select Equity Group Inc. had bucked the original deal, asking independent board members to reconsider, according to a release
“The Special Committee believes that the investor group?s tender offer will deliver improved value to Laureate?s shareholders in a more efficient and more immediate fashion than through the process provided in the original merger agreement,” an announcement from the company stated.
Company sources said the tender offer will move faster than the process started by the Jan. 28 buyout offer, which the company accepted. The tender effectively gives all shareholders a vote whether or not to accept the buyout.
If a simple majority does not accept the offer, the investor group could back out, but they have committed to a second round of buyouts.
Shareholders will have 20 business days to decide whether to accept $62 a share, a .7 percent premium over Laureate?s Friday close of $61.55. The accepted offer is also 2.4 percent more than the Jan. 28 offer of $60.50.
The investor group includes Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Citigroup Private Equity and others.
The news, announced June 4, pushed the stock closer to the tender rate.
Shares of Laureate, a company which educates over 262,000 students at accredited campuses and online universities, recently rose $1.46, or 2.4 percent, peaking at $61.57 by Tuesday, according to published reports.
Laureate stock also experienced unusually high trading volume of 858,242 shares Tuesday; its average daily volume over the previous 30 days had been 333,134 shares.
Laureate is part of The Examiner Top 10, a portfolio of some of the largest publicly traded companies based in the region.
