director sells at 3.75 and 1.66, page-6

ABC Learning Stock Halted After `Interest' in Units (Update1)

By Robert Fenner

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- ABC Learning Centres Ltd., the world's biggest publicly traded owner of child-care centers, halted trading in its stock after receiving ``indications of interest'' for parts of its business.

Talks on the issue are likely to take more than two days, Brisbane-based ABC Learning said in a statement today. The stock plunged 43 percent to A$2.14 yesterday after a slump in earnings raised concerns it may struggle to repay debt.

The share price slump may force some members of the board to sell their stock in the company because of margin loans over their stakes, ABC Learning said yesterday.

Director David Ryan sold his entire holding of 249,101 shares at A$1.89 a share yesterday, according to a separate statement. Fellow director Martin Kemp sold 7.6 million shares, or 73 percent of his holding, at between A$1.67 and A$3.75 a share.

Chief Executive Officer Eddy Groves, who along with his wife owns more than 37 million shares, yesterday declined to say if he has been forced to sell any of his stake.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Fenner in Sydney