KKR Is Said to Mull $2.8 Billion Sale of U.K.'s Cognita Schools

(Bloomberg) -- KKR & Co. is weighing a sale or an an initial public offering for Cognita Schools Ltd., people with knowledge of the matter said.

The asset could be d at about 2 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) in a disposal, said the people, asking not be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly. The private equity firm is talking with advisers about the dual-track process, which is still in the early stages, they said.

A consortium led by Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and Baring Private Equity Asia, who own Nord Anglia Education Inc., is among suitors interested in Cognita, the people said. GEMS Education, backed by Blackstone Group, is also eying the asset, they said.

Representatives for KKR, CPPIB, GEMS and Blackstone declined to comment. A representative for Baring in Hong Kong wasn’t immediately available.

KKR, co-led by billionaires Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invested in the school group in 2013. Milton Keynes, England-based Cognita was founded in 2004 and has 68 schools in eight countries.

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