K12 Inc., the largest for-profit provider of online learning, last week announced plans to form a new company with an investor group led by Safanad Limited, a global principal-investment house based in New York and Dubai. The new company intends to focus on the expansion and integration of technology-based learning programs in pre-K through college worldwide.
Under the proposed terms, the investor group would own a majority stake in the new company. K12 would own an initial minority stake in the company greater than 25 percent and would contribute such assets as the International School of Berne, interest in an existing Middle East joint venture currently operating with a Safanad affiliate, United Kingdom businesses that K12 recently launched, and the rights to market K12’s new prekindergarten product, EmbarK12, outside the United States.
K12’s stock price dipped precipitously in October when the company announced it wouldn’t meet enrollment targets.