QInvest buys stake in Indian firm

Doha: QInvest, a Qatar-based investment bank, has acquired a stake in FIITJEE Limited, an Indian test preparation company for engineering and medical entrance examinations, the bank announced yesterday. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

FIITJEE was founded in 1992 by Dinesh Kumar Goel initially to train students for the highly competitive entrance examinations for the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology.

Currently, the company has in excess of 30,000 students enrolled in its coaching programmes across 50 centres and 35 integrated school programmes in India and the Middle East.

The company's programmes have consistently delivered superior results, with IIT acceptance rates of its students ten times above the national average. FIITJEE has recently expanded its programmes to include training for SAT, Olympiads and the National Talent Search Examination, a national level scholarship programme in India to identify and nurture talented students.

Dinesh Kumar Goel, Chairman of FIITJEE, said: "Partnering with QInvest will help FIITJEE establish a stronger presence in the Middle East, as education represents the key priority in the region, especially Qatar."

Anuj Khanna, head of investment management at QInvest, said: "The test preparation market in India is estimated to be approximately $2 billion and is growing at a rate of 15-20 per cent."