Shares in Pearson slumped by as much as 12% after Apollo said it would not make another bid for the educational publisher after having a third offer valuing the company at £7.2bn, including debt, rejected earlier this week.
Investors sent shares in Pearson – whose market value rose by a fifth after the US private equity group revealed it was considering sweetening a second £6.4bn offer that was snubbed earlier this month – plunging, making it the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday.