Description of Business

Laureate Education, Inc. and subsidiaries (hereinafter Laureate, we, us, our, or the Company) provide higher education programs and services to students through an international network of licensed universities and higher education institutions (institutions). Laureate's programs are provided through institutions that are campus-based and internet-based, or through electronically distributed educational programs (online). On October 1, 2015, we redomiciled in Delaware as a public benefit corporation as a demonstration of our long-term commitment to our mission to benefit our students and society.

On February 6, 2017, the Company completed an initial public offering (IPO) of shares of its Class A common stock, a newly established class of the Company’s common stock of which 700,000 shares were authorized and, as of February 1, 2017, the Company's shares became listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol ‘‘LAUR’’. The Company sold 35,000 shares of its Class A common stock in the IPO at a price of $14.00 per share, resulting in net proceeds to the Company, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses payable by us, of $456,359. On January 31, 2017, in connection with our IPO, our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation was accepted for filing by the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, and effective upon such filing, a 4 to 1 reverse stock split for our common stock was consummated and each share of our common stock then outstanding was automatically reclassified into one fourth of one share of Class B Common Stock, a newly established class of the Company’s common stock, with any resulting fractional shares rounded down to the next whole share. These financial statements reflect the reverse stock split.

As previously disclosed in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2017, and as further discussed in Note 6, Business and Geographic Segment Information, effective August 1, 2017, we changed our operating segments in order to realign our segments according to how our chief operating decision maker now allocates resources and assesses performance. The segment changes resulted in Laureate increasing its number of operating segments from three to six, and is consistent with our goal of flattening our organizational structure to improve decision speed and operating effectiveness.

The change includes the creation of three operating segments (Brazil, Mexico and Andean & Iberian) from the previous Latin America (LatAm) segment. Our institutions in Spain and Portugal (Iberian) have moved from the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific (EMEAA) segment and combined with our institutions in Chile and Peru to form the Andean & Iberian segment. In addition, our institutions in Central America, which were previously part of the LatAm segment, have combined with our campus-based institutions in the United States, which were previously part of the GPS segment, to form the Central America and U.S. Campuses segment. The Online & Partnerships segment consists of the online institutions that were previously part of the GPS segment. In summary, our six operating segments are as follows:


•	Brazil;


•	Mexico;


•	Andean & Iberian;


•	Central America & U.S. Campuses;


•	EMEAA; and


•	Online & Partnerships.

This change has been reflected in the quarterly segment information beginning in the third quarter of 2017, the period in which the change occurred. As required, the 2016 segment information that is presented for comparative purposes has also been revised to reflect this change.

The accompanying unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In our opinion, these financial statements include all adjustments considered necessary to present a fair statement of our consolidated results of operations, financial position and cash flows. Operating results for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year. These unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with Laureate's audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 (the 2016 Form 10-K).