IELTS English-language exam co-owner IDP spurns Blackstone's sweetened bid

Sept 22 — IDP Education on Tuesday rejected a roughly A$694.7 ​million ($493.93 million) takeover proposal from Blackstone, saying the sweetened bid was "highly opportunistic" and substantially undervalued the business.

The rejection pits Blackstone's bid for ‌IELTS co-owner IDP against the board's bet that a sweeping restructuring will revive earnings and deliver ⁠greater value to shareholders.

Blackstone-managed funds offered ​A$2.50 per share in cash for ⁠IDP on September 9, after an earlier A$2.30 bid was rejected. The ‌latest offer was an ‌around 56% premium to IDP's September 8 close.

IDP's board said ⁠the proposal "substantially undervalues" the company and failed ⁠to account for the future earnings potential and benefits from its multi-year transformation programme.

The private equity giant's approach follows a sharp deterioration in IDP's financial performance. Statutory net profit fell about 90% over two years to A$13.3 million in fiscal 2026, while revenue dropped about 23%.

Tighter immigration ‌and student-visa policies across major destination markets have ​hit international student flows, prompting IDP to cut jobs and its IELTS test-centre footprint. The company expects adjusted EBIT of A$95 million to A$115 million in fiscal 2027, versus A$122.9 million in 2026.

The deal underscores a broader standoff between private equity buyers seeking opportunities in beaten-down Australian stocks and company boards that argue short-term industry headwinds are masking the value ​of their businesses.

Hersh Oberoi, global research director at Balfour Capital Group, said the ‌deal's premium largely ‌reflected how ⁠far IDP's shares had fallen rather than the underlying value of the business.

Oberoi expects Blackstone to return, saying an offer of around A$3 to A$3.25 per share could be needed to secure due diligence.

Shares of the Melbourne-based firm settled ‌20.7% higher at A$2.16, a ​more-than-one-month high, on Tuesday.

($1 = 1.4065 Australian dollars)

(Reporting ‌by Rajasik Mukherjee and ⁠Kumar Tanishk ​in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Subhalakshmi Dey; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Mrigank Dhaniwala and ​Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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