Pearson Sells Wall Street English for $300 Million

Pearson PLC (PSON.LN) said on Monday that it was selling its Wall Street English business for $300 million to a consortium affiliated with Baring Private Equity Asia and CITIC Capital.

Wall Street English will retain $150 million of the operating cash, while tax and net transaction costs are expected to come in around $50 million, the publishing and education company said.

The sale of the English language learning business will improve Pearson's net debt position by about $100 million.

The total figure for the deal is after adjustments for deferred revenue and tax liabilities.

The company said that the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2018.

"The sale of Wall Street English is part of our continued effort to focus on a smaller number of bigger opportunities in global education and to become simpler and more efficient," said Chief Executive John Fallon.

Write to Carlo Martuscelli at carlo.martuscelli@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 27, 2017 05:08 ET (10:08 GMT)