Capita Receives Lower-Than-Expected Bids for School Tech Unit

(Bloomberg) -- Capita Plc, the British outsourcing group, received lower-than-expected final offers for its school technology business, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The London-listed company is now evaluating whether to accept a lower bid or keep the Education Software Solutions division, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The sale had initially been expected to fetch about 500 million pounds ($646 million) to 700 million pounds, more than the company’s market value, the people said.

Private equity firms Bain Capital and TPG, which had earlier been pursuing the unit, dropped out of the process and didn’t submit binding bids by this week’s deadline, the people said. Shares of Capita fell 7.45% in London trading Thursday to close at the lowest level since April, giving the firm a market capitalization of about 431 million pounds.

Capita may explore asset sales if it decides to keep the school software business, one of the people said. Representatives for Bain, Capita and TPG declined to comment.

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