Private equity player BGH Capital will ramp up the university-pathway business of education company Navitas if its revised $2.1 billion offer for the company succeeds, which looks likely after directors said they would recommend it in the absence of a superior bid.

A sweetened offer from BGH of $5.825 a share was revealed by Navitas on Tuesday, after the board knocked back its initial $5.50-a-share bid in November. Alongside the higher offer, controversial conditions attached to the previous offer were dropped – specifically an exclusivity clause that prevented members of BGH's bidding consortium, AustralianSuper and co-founder Rodney Jones, from accepting any other higher offer.