Yahoo Finance LDC To Sell Apprenticeship Giant Learndirect
The vocational training provider Learndirect is being put up for sale weeks after one of its core divisions was snapped up by the FTSE-100 education group Pearson (Xetra: 858266 - news) .
Sky News understands that LDC, the private equity firm, has hired advisers at KPMG to prepare a sale process for Learndirect that is expected to kick off shortly.
The appointment comes a month after Pearson acquired Learndirect's e-assessments unit, which counts the contract to oversee the UK's national citizenship test among its biggest assets.
Learndirect, which describes itself as the UK's biggest education, training and skills provider, was bought by LDC in 2011 when the buyout firm acquired the parent Ufi Limited from the Ufi Charitable Trust (UCT).
Last month, it said that it had recruited its 250,000th apprentice to one of its programmes, a milestone which comes as the Government tries to meet a target of seeing 3m apprenticeships delivered during this parliament.
UCT, a registered charity, was established in 1998 to use new technology to transform the delivery of learning and skills.
The brainchild of the Labour government elected in 1997, Learndirect was then set up in 2000.
For Pearson, the purchase of the Learndirect unit meant that it retained ownership of the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) testing mandate, which is thought to be the largest online assessment contract in Europe.
Currently being delivered by Pearson, the contract to manage the theory test for learner drivers was due to transfer to Learndirect in September 2016.
Its ultimate retention by Pearson is notable because of a botched procurement process run by Government officials nearly two years ago which left taxpayers saddled with a £2.5m bill.
Ministers were forced to reverse a decision to hand the contract to Learndirect from 2014 after failing to conduct proper checks on the company.
Pearson Driving Assessments issued a formal challenge to the decision, resulting in it being granted a two-year extension to its deal.
The other areas of Learndirect's business, which focus on apprenticeships and adult skills provision, remained under LDC's ownership and are now likely to attract interest from other trade and financial bidders.
LDC, which is part of the state-backed Lloyds Banking Group (Other OTC: LLOBF - news) , had previously considered floating or selling the education business.
