A consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management has introduced an settlement to turn out to be the lead investor in Dubai-based K12 schooling big GEMS Education.
GEMS and Brookfield didn’t make public the dimensions of the investment however mentioned in a joint assertion on June 18 that the non-public fairness agency CVC Capital companions will exit its 30% stake in GEMS as a part of the settlement.
“We are well positioned for future growth, thanks to a supportive operating environment that is driving record enrolments, underpinned by a strong UAE economy and a growing population,” mentioned Dino Varkey, GEMS CEO.
“We believe that Brookfield is the right investment partner to help us realise our ambitions as we look to the next phase of growth,” he added.
Subject to circumstances, the deal is anticipated to be accomplished within the third quarter of 2024, which ends in September.
GEMS started in 1959 as a single college in Dubai. It is now the biggest non-public college supplier within the area, with 42 faculties presently working throughout the UAE and Qatar and a further two opening in August 2024.
We are nicely positioned for future development, because of a supportive working setting that’s driving report enrolments, underpinned by a robust UAE financial system and a rising inhabitants
Dino Varkey, GEMS
GEMS delivers instructing throughout British, IB, American and Indian curriculars and recorded report enrolment exceeding 140,000 college students final 12 months.
In 2021, GEMS Education partnered with Arizona State University within the US, offering college credits to college students whereas in school.
This August, GEMS will open two new faculties in Dubai South and Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, bringing the entire variety of faculties to 44.
The new college in Masdar City may have a specific concentrate on the sustainability of the curriculum and of the constructing itself, appropriately positioned in Abu Dhabi’s inexperienced metropolis – which goals to be net-zero by 2050.
Other traders within the K12 operator embody Gulf Islamic Investments, Marathon Asset Management and the state oil fund of Azerbaijan.
GEMS concurrently secured financing commitments from a consortium of UAE banks to finance the transaction, together with funding the compensation of the corporate’s present monetary preparations, it mentioned.
Brookfield, the Toronto-based fund supervisor, had USD$900 billion in property as of 2023 and focusses on property, renewable vitality, infrastructure and personal fairness.
Its investment into GEMS alerts the continued power of K12 schooling within the area, with analysts predicting double-digit annual development.
“As a long-term, operationally focused investor, Brookfield’s partnership with the family and the GEMS community demonstrates the breadth of the business, the quality of the education, and the critical infrastructure that we deliver for the UAE,” mentioned Sunny Varkey, GEMS founder.
Since going public in 1997, Brookfield has turn out to be the lead investor of 25 firms, and just lately partnered with UAE-backed Alterra to boost as much as $5 billion for a local weather finance-focused fund that may put money into clear vitality tasks in rising markets.