Laureate Education Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR) is an education company focused on the full-time/working-adult demographic. It operates campus-based and online-based universities offering both undergraduate and degree programs. The company's network includes institutions in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Due to the company's focus on the international markets, which offer faster growth potential than the domestic market, the company has grown very substantially over the last several years. From 2001 to 2005, Laureate increased sales from $485 million to $875 million, and increased profits to $160 million from from $56 million.In the end of January, the company announced that an "investor group" would purchase Laureate for $60.50 per share. This group is led by the company's chairman and CEO, Douglas Becker. With the stock trading at $60.30, the opportunity certainly doesn't look tremendous. That is, until you read the recent 13D filings on the stock!
Within the last two weeks, two interesting 13D filings have hit the SEC filing page for Laureate. The first filing was released by Select Equity and the second filing was released by T. Rowe Price. Both of these large holders of Laureate's stock are against the management-led buyout because they believe the $60.50 per share being offered to shareholders isn't adequate.
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