report mrpeaman

ABC Learning To Sell Part Of US Ops To Morgan Stanley -Source
05/03/2008 2:33PM

MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--Childcare operator ABC Learning Centres Ltd. (ABS.AU) will sell part of its U.S. operations to Morgan Stanley's private equity arm, a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.

The plan involves offloading 60% of its U.S. business, valuing the childcare assets around A$775 million, the person said.

Shares in ABC Learning have been suspended from trading since last week while it continues talks on a partial sale.

Its shares plunged 42% last Tuesday after its first half results missed analysts' expectations, prompting concern over debt levels and triggering margin calls on directors' shares.


-By Susan Murdoch, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9671-4393 ; [email protected]


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 04, 2008 22:33 ET (03:33 GMT)