Brazil's Estacio holders to sell 20 pct of co stock

PHILADELPHIA, May 11 (Reuters) - Brazilian education company Estacio Participacoes (ESTC11.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Sunday its controlling shareholders agreed to sell about 20 percent of the company's stock to a Brazilian firm affiliated with GP Investments Ltd's private equity fund.

The controlling shareholders would sell 47.1 million common shares in the company to the firm, Moena Participacoes, for R$259.3 million ($153.9 million) in cash.

Moena is a Brazilian publicly held company that is indirectly controlled by the GP Investments's private equity fund GP Capital Partners, Estacio said.

Estacio said the deal was part of an effort to create a strategic alliance between the controlling shareholders and GP to increase Estacio's value through strategic management of the business, focusing on the Brazilian post-secondary education sector.

Estacio also said it plans to convert its preferred shares into common shares. (1 Brazilian Reais = 0.5936 U.S. dollars) (Reporting by Jessica Hall, Editing by Jacqueline Wong) (For more M&A news and our DealZone blog, go to here)