McGraw-Hill completes sale of education division
McGraw-Hill completes sales of education division to Apollo Global for $2.4B in cash
NEW YORK (AP) -- The McGraw-Hill Cos. said Friday that it completed its $2.4 billion sale of its education business to funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management LLC.
The remaining company will focus on serving the global capital and commodity markets and will be renamed McGraw Hill Financial, subject to shareholder approval, in the second quarter of this year.
McGraw-Hill plans to use part of the $1.9 billion in after-tax proceeds from the sale to pay down debt, resume stock buybacks and make acquisitions.
The move increases the company's focus on its Standard & Poor's credit rating agency, which is in the process of fighting a Department of Justice lawsuit accusing it of giving inflated ratings to mortgage investments that helped trigger the financial crisis.
S&P has said that it's prepared to spend years beating back the lawsuit.
McGraw-Hill shares fell 22 cents to $48.37 in afternoon trading.
