Dive Brief:

• Apollo Education Group, the parent company of the University of Phoenix, has extended a deadline for shareholders to vote on a proposed sale of the company, which, if rejected, could mean a sale of the University of Phoenix alone.
• The Arizona Republic reports Apollo is offering shareholders $9.50 per share for the $1.1 billion buyout, and by Thursday’s original deadline, a majority of shareholders still had not voted, putting the sale in question until the new May 6 deadline.
• While Apollo has threatened to sell the University of Phoenix if the buyout falls through, which would not need shareholder approval, many investors seem to be holding out based on reports that the $1.1 billion offer is too low.

Dive Insight:

Apollo stock ended trading Thursday at $7.58 per share. When the buyout was first reported, analysts commented on investors’ pledge to pay shareholders 30% more than their stock was worth on the market.

Bloomberg, however, reported that Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. advised shareholders to reject the deal as an “extraordinarily low valuation.” Apollo reportedly had trouble finding a buyer, perhaps in part because of the intense federal scrutiny on for-profit colleges. The University of Phoenix was temporarily banned from recruiting on military bases, and it underwent a Federal Trade Commission investigation last July. Enrollment has plummeted from its peak in 2010, but the company could rebound with higher enrollment requirements and a new focus on rebuilding a tattered reputation.