Bregal sells Studialis to Providence

José Rojo
24 August 2015

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British GP Bregal Capital has sold French private education group Studialis to US firm Providence Equity Partners, eight years after setting it up as a buy-and-build platform.

According to reports, the enterprise value of Studialis is thought to be around the €250m mark.

The figure echoes the range reported by EducationInvestor in December 2014, when an enterprise value of 12-13x the company's €20m EBITDA was supposedly targeted during a reported sales process.

At the time, potential suitors for Studialis included Apax Partners-owned education group Inseec, and Galileo, an operator owned by Providence Equity Partners.

Speaking to unquote", Apax partner Bertrand Pivin confirmed the GP considered a takeover by its portfolio company Inseec, a school operator acquired in October 2013. The firm decided against taking part in the negotiations for Studialis as the company's position as a domestic actor clashed with Inseec's plans to expand outside France.

The divestment of the buy-and-build platform is the second in the French public services space in recent months.

In mid-July, Blackstone offloaded private clinic owner Vitalia to CVC Capital Partners-backed Vedici. The group, thought to be valued around €950m, was set up by the GP as a consolidation of previously purchased individual clinics, which were gradually brought together between 2006-2009.

A similar strategy is currently being followed by Gimv's Almaviva Santé. A private healthcare operator created by 21 Centrale Partners in 2007, it bolted on Clinique Arago and Domus Cliniques in July as part of its roadmap to create a consolidated group in south-eastern France.

Company
Studialis was created in November 2007 by Bregal as a platform to be expanded via a build-up strategy across the French higher education space.

Since then, Studialis has bolted on around 10 education groups and grown to accommodate 20,000 students every year across its 16 campuses, from fields such as journalism, graphic design, and arts and culture. With headquarters in Paris, the business is thought to have generated an EBITDA of €20m in 2014.