Software Maker Instructure Explores Potential Sale

(Bloomberg) -- Education software company Instructure Inc. is exploring strategic options including a sale following pressure from activist investors, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A number of private equity firms are weighing bids for the Salt Lake City-based company, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. No final decision has been made and Instructure could elect to remain public, the people said.

A representative for Instructure declined to comment.

Instructure jumped as high as 8.5%. The shares were up about 6.5% to $51.03 at 1:30 p.m. in New York trading Wednesday, giving the company a market value of about $1.9 billion.

Praesidium Investment Management Co. joined Sachem Head Capital Management to push Instructure to sell and has identified multiple potential buyers for its learning management platform, Praesidium Co-Founder and Managing Partner Kevin Oram said in an interview this month.

Instructure announced a strategic review last month of its Bridge division, which offers employee development and training software.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kiel Porter in Chicago at kporter17@bloomberg.net;Scott Deveau in New York at sdeveau2@bloomberg.net;Gillian Tan in New York at gtan129@bloomberg.net

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

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