UPDATE 1-Australia's ABC Learning says in talks on part sale

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SYDNEY, Feb 27 (Reuters) - ABC Learning Centres Ltd (ABS.AX), whose shares were hammered the previous day on concerns about its debt, said on Wednesday it had received expressions of interest in part of its business.

ABC, Australia's top private childcare operator, sought a two-day trading halt in its shares but said the talks with interested parties may take longer than that.

ABC, in which the government of Singapore's investment arm Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] owns a 12.2 percent stake, has expanded rapidly into the United States using debt-funded acquisitions.

The group's Australia and New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Martin Kemp offloaded 7.6 million shares in the company on Tuesday when the stock tumbled about 43 percent.

Another director, David John, sold about 250,000 shares on Tuesday.

Earlier this week, ABC Learning reported a 42 percent drop in its first-half profit but said it was on track to achieve a full-year profit growth of 15 percent.

ABC shares have lost two-thirds of their value since hitting a lifetime high of A$7.66 in May last year.

ABC Learning, which operates 2,200 childcare centres mainly in Australia, said on Tuesday it was well within the covenants on its A$1.4 billion three-year bank facility.

The covenants related to shareholders' funds, funding ratios and gearing ratios, and did not depend on market capitalisation or the company's share price.

ABC also has a A$600 million ($561 million) bond with a nine-year term. ($1=A$1.07) (Reporting by Denny Thomas)