WRC Media to redeem $152 million 12¾% notes via unit sale

By Jennifer Chiou

New York, June 23 - WRC Media Inc. intends to redeem all $152 million of its 12¾% senior subordinated notes with the proceeds of its sale of American Guidance Service, Inc. to Pearson Education, Inc.

The deal involves the $270 million sale of all American Guidance Service shares and must meet certain conditions, including the refinancing of indebtedness.

The companies expect to complete the yet-to-be-approved sale in the third quarter.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. was financial advisor to WRC Media.

"In 2004, AGS Publishing grew its revenues 25%. The company is poised to continue to capitalize on the very favorable trends in its target markets," Ralph D. Caulo, WRC Media's interim chief executive officer, said in a news release.

"This growth has created an opportunity for WRC Media to monetize the increase in value of AGS Publishing, which will allow us to meaningfully deleverage our balance sheet."

AGS is a publisher of low-reading level textbooks and produces behavior, ability, achievement and speech-language assessments for all ages.

New York-based WRC Media creates and distributes supplementary educational materials for the school, library and home markets. Its companies include the World Almanac Education Group, Inc. and Weekly Reader Corp.

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