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Care.com Works With Advisers to Explore Potential Sale

Care.com Works With Advisers to Explore Potential Sale

(Bloomberg) -- Care.com Inc., an online marketplace for babysitters and other caregivers, is undertaking a strategic review, including exploring a potential sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company is working with financial advisers, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public.

No final decision has been made and Care.com could opt to remain independent, they said.

The shares have fallen about 35% in the past year. Care.com rose less than 1% Friday to $11.18, giving the company a market value of about $366 million. Shares in the company jumped more than 14% in aftermarket trading in New York.

A representative for Care.com declined to comment.

The move comes after a rocky year for the firm, which has 34.1 million users across more than 20 countries, according to its website.

Its shares have tumbled this year after a Wall Street Journal story raised concerns that the company wasn’t adequately screening its caregivers. In March, Care.com issued a new set of guidelines for screening caregivers and took steps to remove fake day-care center listings.

Care.com Works With Advisers to Explore Potential Sale

Founder and Chief Executive Officer Sheila Lirio Marcelo said she would step down in August, two months after the company announced that its chief financial officer was resigning.

In August, activist investor Engine Capital disclosed a position in the company and has urged it to explore a sale while searching for a new CEO. Care.com could be worth $14 to $19.50 per share in a sale, Engine Capital said in a letter to its board.

Care.com said last month that that it retained the consultant Activate Inc. to review its business strategy.

To contact the reporters on this story: Scott Deveau in New York at sdeveau2@bloomberg.net;Gillian Tan in New York at gtan129@bloomberg.net;Crystal Tse in Hong Kong at ctse44@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Liana Baker at lbaker75@bloomberg.net, Matthew Monks, Michael Hytha

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