Cinven tabled a non-binding offer (NBO) for UK-based higher education and vocational training provider BPP last week while a host of rival sponsors opted to let the first-round deadline pass without making a bid, sources familiar with the matter said.

Permira, Blackstone, KKR and Hellman & Friedman had expressed preliminary interest in BPP but ultimately decided not to submit NBOs, according to the sources.

Owner TDR Capital, via sellside advisors Morgan Stanley and Houlihan Lokey, collected NBOs on 16 October, two of the sources said.

Morgan Stanley is offering a staple debt-financing package valued at around GBP 750m–GBP 800m, equal to approximately 5.25x the sellside’s structuring EBITDA guidance of GBP 130m–GBP 150m, one of the sources said. Private credit funds had been expected to compete with the staple in the second round of bidding, this source added.

As of yesterday (21 October), a shortlist for the second round had yet to be communicated to bidders, two of the sources said.

Other buyout groups that signalled preliminary interest in BPP included CVC and TA Associates, as previously reported by this news service.

TDR Capital is reportedly targeting a valuation of up to GBP 2.5bn for BPP. According to one source, BPP is being marketed off an adjusted EBITDA of around GBP 150m for 2025.

TDR Capital acquired BPP in 2021 from Vanta Education, a vehicle controlled by Apollo Global Management and The Vistria Group.

The company is one of the UK’s largest for-profit providers of higher education in the fields of law, business, nursing and technology. It was one of the first private universities to be granted degree-awarding powers in 2007.

The organisation enrols around 21,000 students, studying across 13 centres in eight locations globally, as well as online.

Representatives for TDR Capital, Cinven, Morgan Stanley, Houlihan Lokey, Permira, KKR and Blackstone declined to comment. Hellman & Friedman did not respond to requests for comment.