Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 17): Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas), a government-linked private equity fund management company, has sold its 100% shares of Tenby Education Group to International Schools Partnership (ISP). However, it did not disclose pricing details.

In a statement, Ekuinas chairman Raja Tan Sri Arshad Raja Tun Uda said the divestment is part of Ekuinas’ “prudent investment strategy to ensure a positive internal rate of return (IRR)”. 

“Additionally, Ekuinas believes that ISP, which has the required resources and operational expertise, will be able to support and guide the group towards continued success,” Raja Tan Sri Arshad said.

According to Ekuinas, the sale marks its eighth divestment, bringing total realisation proceeds to more than RM1 billion, including divestment of its 42.3% stake in Icon Offshore Bhd last year.

Established in Ipoh in 1960, Tenby is an education group in Malaysia offering private national and international curricular across six campuses in Ipoh, Penang, Miri, Setia Alam, Johor Baru and Semenyih. 

Via its investment in Tenby, Ekuinas said it has undertaken a few initiatives to aggressively grow Tenby’s revenue and earnings, such as increasing student numbers from about 4,600 to over 5,000, and driving expansion through the opening of Tenby Ecohill in 2016 and Tenby Tropicana Aman, which is scheduled for 2018. 

“We are pleased that after eight years in operation, our divestment initiatives are progressing rapidly to accelerate the realisation of our investments. The time and economic climate are right for us to exit Tenby, as the divestment enables Ekuinas to generate positive returns to maintain the funds’ performances,” Ekuinas chief executive officer (CEO) Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abd Kadir said. 

“Through this divestment, Ekuinas will substantially cover its original cost of investment and generate a positive IRR of 45.7% and money multiples of 2.5 times the capital invested, including dividends received,” Syed Yasir Arafat added.  

ISP was founded by a team of experienced school operators with both educational and commercial expertise, managing and providing education to 16,000 students in Pre-K-13 schools across Europe, North America, Central America and the Middle East. 

Ekuinas said Tenby presents an opportunity for ISP to expand into the Asean market, complementing Tenby's existing strengths and adding a new dimension brought on by their educational and commercial expertise, as well as their experiences from schools in other countries under ISP's portfolio.  

With Tenby, ISP's portfolio of schools will increase to 25, Ekuinas added.

“We are extremely pleased with our acquisition of Tenby, which is our first acquisition in Southeast Asia. This demonstrates our ambition to grow our partnerships across different regions all over the world,” said CEO of ISP, Steve Brown, said.                                                

Last week, Ekuinas had announced the disposal of its entire stake in APIIT Education Group for an enterprise value of RM725 million. 

The new owners of APIIT Group are joint-venture (JV) vehicles owned by the existing key management team of APIIT Group and KV Asia Capital — a private equity firm that invests in mid-sized companies in Southeast Asia. 

APIIT Group comprises the Asia Pacific Schools (APS), Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) and Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT). 

To recap, The Edge Malaysia weekly had reported last August that Ekuinas was seeking a buyer for institutions under its investment unit ILMU Education Group Sdn Bhd. It was reportedly planning to shut down ILMU by the end of 2017, after the sale of its education assets. 

With the disposals of Tenby and APIIT Group, ILMU is now left with three education brands, including Unitar International University, Cosmopoint College, and Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan University College — also parked under Cosmopoint.

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