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Bridget Carter

Modern Star refinancing debt

Bridget Carter
Navis Capital’s education products business Modern Star is understood to be embarking on a refinancing. Picture: iStock
Navis Capital’s education products business Modern Star is understood to be embarking on a refinancing. Picture: iStock

Navis Capital’s education products business Modern Star is understood to be embarking on a refinancing of about $300m of debt.

Former UBS corporate lending operative Kelly Morton of Skye Capital advisory is working on the deal.

It comes after efforts were made to sell the business for $1bn last year.

The sales process through Morgan Stanley and Luminis Partners attracted a disparate group of buyers, including private equity firms Permira and PAG, Japanese trade players such as Benesse and Bunzl out of London. The understanding is that most parties wanted either the Australian or the Chinese component of the business.

Efforts were later made to sell off parts of the company separately before the sales process was suspended amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, Modern Star generated about $55m of earnings. The company’s large Chinese presence accounts for about 20 per cent of the overall operation.

It has been described as a leading Australian business-to-business distributor of education resources and is moving to consolidate.

Bridget Carter
Bridget CarterDataRoom Editor

Bridget Carter has worked as a writer and editor for The Australian’s DataRoom column since it was launched in 2013, focusing on capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and investment banking. She has been a journalist for more than 18 years, covering a broad range of events and topics, including high profile court cases and crimes, natural disasters, social issues and company news.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/dataroom/modern-star-refinancing-debt/news-story/b366278c52a6f5d80098a3329a520b3f