Nov 16 (Reuters) – Australia’s IDP Education on Monday rejected Blackstone’s revised buyout offer, which valued the IELTS English language exam co-owner at about A$833.7 million ($564.50 million), snubbing the asset manager for a third time.
• IDP said that the proposal is not in best interest of its shareholders as it substantially undervalues the firm and is “opportunistic”
• “It is well below the level that the IDP Board would be willing to recommend to shareholders and hence it does not warrant further engagement with Blackstone,” the company said
• Blackstone’s latest offer of A$3 per share sits 20% to 30% higher than the two bids IDP Education has already turned down
• The bids follow a sharp downturn in the international education sector. In August, IDP reported a nearly 75% fall in annual statutory net profit and forecast weaker fiscal 2027 operating earnings
• Although IDP expects market volumes to contract in fiscal 2027 compared to last year, it remains confident that conditions are in place for student volumes to return to sustainable growth over the coming years
• Blackstone did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment
($1 = 1.4769 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Jasmeen Ara Shaikh in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Lincoln Feast.)
