The McGraw-Hill Cos., one of the nation’s largest providers of education content, is searching for a new leader for its education business after its board approved splitting the company into two public businesses, one focused on education and the other on markets.
The move follows a yearlong review of New York City-based McGraw-Hill, whose stock price has dropped by more than 40 percent since 2006. The company said the split will create more “sharply defined” companies. Activist shareholders, including the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, based in Canada, had pushed the company to break into separate entities.
McGraw-Hill Education will be the new company focused on education services and digital learning. It is forecasting revenue of about $2.4 billion for the year, compared with about $4 billion for the markets business.
Together, the companies, founded in 1888, have provided technical and trade publications, textbooks, and digital education resources, as well as information and analysis on global markets.
