Reuters
2 min read
(Reuters) -McGraw Hill, a textbook publisher and educational courses provider backed by billionaire Tom Gores' Platinum Equity, filed for an initial public offering in the United States on Friday.
The move comes nearly four years after the company's $4.5 billion acquisition by Platinum, and coincides with the gradual reopening of the IPO market.
Recent strong market debuts, such as those by stablecoin giant Circle and debt collector Jefferson Capital, have also encouraged more companies to list their shares.
Columbus, Ohio-based McGraw Hill disclosed a revenue of $2.1 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, up 7% from the year before.
Its net loss narrowed to $85.8 million, compared with $193 million a year earlier.
McGraw Hill is the holding company of McGraw-Hill Education, which previously attempted to go public but withdrew its filing in 2018.
It is one of the most recognized names in the publishing industry, and has a global sales team of nearly 1,500.
However, the company is pursuing a listing at a time when artificial intelligence models are dramatically reshaping the education industry.
McGraw Hill is well aware of this, as it flagged generative AI as a risk in its IPO filing, noting that the technology could make it easier to produce competing instructional materials, potentially hurting demand.
Britannica Group, the company behind the 250-year-old Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Merriam-Webster dictionary, also confidentially filed for an IPO in January last year but has not moved forward since.
Proceeds from McGraw Hill's IPO would be used to repay debt, it said. The company will aim to trade on the NYSE under the symbol "MH". Goldman Sachs is the lead underwriter for the IPO.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
