Dec. 19--Career Education said Thursday it plans to divest its Le Cordon Bleu colleges in North America.
The struggling Schaumburg-based for-profit education company said it hired investment bank Parchman, Vaughan Co. to handle the task.
"This divestiture will allow us to reallocate funds across our portfolio, adding flexibility to our balance sheet as we look to position Career Education for growth in 2015 and beyond," Chief Executive Officer Scott Steffey said in a statement.
There are 16 Le Cordon Bleu schools in the U.S. The curriculum is based on the French culinary tradition and affiliated with the original school in Paris.
Career Education has been battling declining enrollment. In its most recent quarter, the company narrowed losses to $48.1 million from $80.1 million a year earlier, in part by lowering expenses by almost 9 percent. Still, revenue fell to $227.5 million from $244.1 million a year earlier.
Le Cordon Bleu is a part of Career Education's Culinary Arts division, which reported revenue of $177.5 million last year. As of Sept. 30, student enrollment in the culinary arts division was 10,100.
Shares of Career Education were down more than 2 percent Friday morning at $6.30.
crshropshire@tribpub.com
Twitter @corilyns
