Kahoot shares rise 28% as General Atlantic buys Softbank's stake

OSLO (Reuters) -Softbank said on Friday it had agreed to sell its 15% stake in Norwegian e-learning group Kahoot to U.S. private equity group General Atlantic FT BV.

Kahoot's share price surged 28% in early trade.

General Atlantic in a separate statement confirmed the deal to buy 73.5 million Kahoot shares, but did not disclose the transaction price.

Kahoot's share price had fallen by 63% year-to-date before Friday's announcement, closing at 17.17 Norwegian crowns on Thursday and valuing Softbank's 15% stake at 1.25 billion Norwegian crowns ($122.28 million).

The transaction will be completed in two tranches, with the first 9% being sold on or about Sept. 26 and the remaining 6.02% in the fourth quarter, "once applicable regulatory approval has been obtained by the purchaser", Softbank said.

J.P. Morgan served as financial advisor to General Atlantic.

($1 = 10.2227 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Stine Jacobsen)