ABC Learning Centres, the world's biggest publicly-traded owner of child-care centers, agreed to sell its UK vouchers business to Computershare for 90 million pounds ($195.3 million).
Proceeds from the sale will be used to repay debt, Brisbane- based ABC Learning said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange today. The unit provides childcare vouchers to UK employers who then offer them to workers as a benefit, it said. Profit on the sale will be about $100 million ($US87 million) before costs.
ABC Learning stock has plunged 87% this year after earnings slumped, raising concerns about ABC Learning's ability to repay debt. Chief executive officer Eddy Groves borrowed to fund acquisitions that allowed ABC Learning to more than triple in size in 2 1/2 years to 2300 centers globally.
Shares in ABC were up as much as 6.6%, or 4.5 cents, to 72.5 cents in early trade.
The company sold a 60% stake in its US operations to Morgan Stanley in April as it focuses on its almost 1200 child-care centers in Australia and New Zealand.
Melbourne-based Computershare is the world's biggest share registrar.
