Career Education sells European education business to Apax Partners for about $305 mn

Career Education Corp, a US-based post secondary education provider, yesterday said that it would sell its European education business to private equity firm Apax Partners, for about $305 million.

The deal includes Career Education's entire International schools business, comprising of the Paris-based INSEEC Group and the International University of Monaco, which provide career-oriented education programs in various disciplines, including business studies, health education, advertising, communications and technology.

The European operations of Career Education reported revenue of $128.6 million in 2012, representing approximately 9 per cent of the company's consolidated revenue.

Interstingly, the sale value of $305 million for only the European education business is nearly the value of the entire company's market cap of $387.8 million.

"Redeploying capital from Europe to the US is the right move for Career Education. It will help us best serve the vast majority of our students, who are US-based, and return the best value for our investors. The cash from the transaction will improve our options for accelerating future growth," said Scott Steffey, president and CEO of Career Education.

Founded in 1994, Illinois-based Career Education offers career-oriented education to a diverse student population across the world through its 90 campuses located throughout the US, France, Italy, the UK and Monaco.

It offers doctoral, master's, bachelor's and associate degrees, and diploma and certificate programs.

Nearly 40 per cent of its students attend the web-based virtual campuses of American InterContinental University, Colorado Technical University, International Academy of Design & Technology and Le Cordon Bleu North America.

It has more than 9,500 employees, more than 57,000 students, 600,000 alumni and annual revenues of $1.5 billion.