Dubai: Dubai-headquartered Fajr Capital, American private equity firm Blackstone and Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat have acquired an undisclosed minority stake in GEMS Education.
Fajr Capital said in a statement on its website on Wednesday it led the group of investors to take a “significant minority stake” in GEMS Education.
Fajr Capital declined to comment on the transaction value or stake size when contacted by Gulf News.
Blackstone made the investment through its Tactical Opportunities fund, the statement said.
GEMS operates more than 50 schools across 19 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Asia and Africa, educating more than 140,000 students and employing more than 13,000 people, the statement said.
GEMS will be separated into two units, with the Fajr Capital-led investment buying into the company’s business focused on the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. The other until will hold GEMS’ assets in North America and Europe.
“Fajr Capital, Mumtalakat and Blackstone will now work closely with GEMS Education’s existing shareholders to accelerate expansion plans in the company’s key growth markets, particularly Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Malaysia and Bahrain,” the statement said.
Sunny Varkey, Founder of GEMS, said in the statement money from acquisition will be used to fund the company’s Gulf expansion as well as target markets in South East Asia including, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
In September, Varkey said he was hoping to raise $500 million (Dh1.8 billion) to fund growth by selling a 20 per cent stake in the company.
Barclays, lawyers Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and consultancy KPMG acted on behalf of the investors, with Deloitte and lawyers Allen and Overy advising GEMS on the deal, the statement said.
Sir Michael Peat, who was the principal private secretary to Prince Charles from 2002 until 2011, has been appointed as the new independent Chairman to the board of directors under the transaction.
Fajr Capital’s shareholders include Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Abu Dhabi Investment Council, the government of Brunei, Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah, and Saudi Arabia private investment firm MASIC.
Wednesday’s announcement marks Fajr Capital’s fifth investment in 2014, the firm said, while also increases Blackstone’s footprint in the United Arab Emirates. Blackstone has been advising Dubai state-owned Dubai World on extend the maturity of the largest single repayment under a $25 billion debt restructuring agreement struck in 2011.
