A seed was planted in early January when a consortium of investors led by Douglas Becker, the chairman and chief executive officer of Laureate Education Inc., offered to buy Laureate for $3.8 billion or $60.50 per share, launching a chain reaction that led to an impending acquisition.
On Feb. 25, two investors associated with Select Equity Group Inc., a New York-based investment advisor, filed a letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission claiming long-term flaws in the proposed buyout.
Since that time, T.Rowe Price and BlackRock Inc., two international investment firms, each expressed concern and made public their decision to vote against the current deal as shareholders when the time came.
Viewing the future of Laureate in a similar light as Select Equity, T. Rowe believes that Laureate stock could be worth around $110 per share within the next three years.
The most recent development is a lawsuit filed by the Philadelphia-based Law Offices of Brian M. Felgoise on behalf of the shareholders of Educate Inc., a subsidiary of Laureate. The goal is to block the current deal that would affect subsidiary shareholders as well.
Early last week, Laureate announced there would be a meeting of shareholders in the near future to vote on the impending deal.
