Pearson PLC (LSE:PSON) said it has reached an agreement to sell its international online program management arm, Pearson Online Learning Services (POLS) to private equity firm Regent.
The sale is the culmination of a strategic review started in August 2022, according to the FTSE 100-listed publishing and education company.
Under the terms of the deal, Regent will pay Pearson 27.5% of POLS’s adjusted earnings each year for six years and a proportion of the proceeds when it sells the unit.
Pearson told shareholders that the POLS sale was likely to be “immaterial” to its 2023 operating profit.
“The sale of this business concludes the strategic review and demonstrates further progress in reshaping Pearson's portfolio towards future growth opportunities centered around lifelong learning,” the company said in a statement.
POLS had gross assets of £113mln and net assets of £78mln as of 31 December 20222. The business generated £155mln of revenue and £26mln of adjusted operating losses in 2022 with around £5mln of stranded costs, which have now been eliminated, according to Pearson.