Laureate Education Inc. has come under fire.
A Baltimore-based provider of higher education, Laureate agreed to be purchased by a investor consortium led by its chairman and chief executive officer, Douglas Becker, on Jan. 28. Since that time, several shareholders have criticized the agreed buyout of $60.50 per share, a total of $3.8 billion.
John Britton and James Berman, a principal and general counsel to Select Equity Group Inc., a New York-based investment advisor, filed a letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission claiming the proposed deal was “flawed by clear conflicts of interest.”
Select Equity is the third-largest shareholder of Laureate stock.
In the filing that was also addressed to the Laureate board of directors, Britton and Berman state that their “reservations about this transaction extend beyond price to the process by which the deal was proposed and evaluated,” going on to discuss how the actions of a management takeover might not be in other shareholders? best interest.
When asked about the letter, Laureate Director of Corporate Communications Chris Symanoski encouraged feedback from shareholders.
“Laureate welcomes comments from shareholders,” he said. “We encourage them to view the proxy statement that will be available in a few weeks and find out additional information about the transaction.”
The transaction is scheduled for completion during the second quarter of 2007.
As of the most recent year end date, the 2005 report, Laureate reported a revenue of $876 million, an operating income of $160 million and employing about 25,000 people internationally.
Laureate is part of The Examiner Top 10, which follows the stocks of 10 of the largest publicly held companies in the Baltimore region.
