Learndirect could be in line for a £100m flotation, it has been reported.
According to Education Investor magazine, the training provider’s owner, Lloyds Development Capital (LDC), has appointed Numis Securities to advise on the listing.
Neither Learndirect nor LDC, part of the Lloyds Banking Group, would deny the rumour when pressed by FE Week, but both declined to comment.
The firm, based in Sheffield, West Yorkshire, is one of the UK’s largest providers in the training and e-assessment markets, running apprenticeships for companies including McDonald’s.
Learndirect was launched in 2000 by University for Industry (UfI) and was sold, with UfI ltd, which managed Learndirect, by Ufi Charitable Trust to LDC in 2011 for £40m.
Learndirect then merged with JHP the following year and now has a network of 490 centres and more than 2,000 employees nationwide.
It has a current Skills Funding Agency allocation of more than £154.6m and delivers around 18,000 apprenticeships a year.
The provider received a grade two, good, grading from Ofsted following an inspection in March last year.
Time to get out of the stock market .
Not so long ago this was being touted for £200m, then it was £100m and still no takers. Now its going to be foisted on an unsuspecting public….
LDC are trying to get back the huge investments they made in LD and JHP. However with the cuts in ASB and the impending change in apprenticeship funding, surely this is a difficult one to sell.
How long LD can go on squeezing margins of its network of providers remains to be seen. Interesting to see if the providers get anything out of this.
Probably one IPO to avoid
Good post above. I would imagine the business isn’t even worth 100m. All depends on the quality of its systems and learner data. Learndirect is primarily a technology company so taking on the JHP brand is probably a shock to their system, as a traditional training provider is totally different! Sure they’re realising that at this very moment 😉
Pip Pip