TDR Capital looks to refinance education provider BPP after sale fails
Private equity giant TDR Capital is looking to refinance BPP Holdings, the UK-based provider of professional and academic education, after failing to sell the educational training institution.
TDR was reported to be preparing to sell the company last summer with a valuation in excess of £2.5bn, tasking bankers from Morgan Stanley and Houlihan Lokey with finding a buyer.
One of the parties that had looked at BPP said autumn was an “unfortunate time to be trying to sell a business” due to economic uncertainty around Rachel Reeves’ first budget.
Potential buyers included private equity firms CVC, Cinven, and KKR, The Times has reported.
TDR has now given up on a sale and is trying to refinance the training business.
Apollo Global Management-backed private equity firm Vanta Education sold BPP to TDR for less than £700m in 2021.
The firm rapidly acquired other services to add to BPP’s offering, including Buttercup Solutions, which trains pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and hospital support staff.
Last year, they expanded internationally, acquiring Acsenda School of Management and Arbutus College in Canada.
It also operates BPP University, which is well-known for its accountancy training and law courses. It has 38,000 students, mostly doing postgraduate qualifications.
In the year up to April 2024, TDR returned a pre-tax profit of £43m, during which they made big acquisitions including supermarket giant Asda.
TDR, Houlihan Lokey and Morgan Stanley declined to comment on a potential sale of BPP.