Graphite Capital invests in Higher Ed International

Harriet Matthews
25 March 2021

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Graphite Capital has acquired a minority stake in UK-based online education platform Higher Ed International (HEI).

The deal came about via a private introduction between the parties. The due diligence process was completed in January and February 2021.

The unleveraged development-capital deal is intended to support HEI's global growth plans, according to a statement.

Graphite Capital is deploying equity via Graphite Capital Partners IX, which held a final close in July 2018 on £470m. The fund generally invests in UK-based mid-market businesses with enterprise values of £30-175m, but can also back smaller companies. HEI is the fund's sixth investment.

The education provision sector has been popular among sponsors in the past six months, with eight buyouts with an aggregate value of more than €971m completed in the sector in Europe since October 2020, according to Unquote Data. Bowmark sold the university partnerships, online learning and languages businesses of Oxford International to THI Investments earlier in March 2021 as part of a split deal, as reported.

In 2020, the sector saw 15 deals with an aggregate value of around €6.7bn, a figure bolstered by large-cap deals such as Providence Equity Partners' €2.5bn sale of Galileo Global Education to a consortium of institutional investors, as well as Permira's $1.5bn acquisition of English language school EF Kids & Teens.

Company
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Brighton, HEI provides online education courses and degree programmes in partnership with universities in the UK, Europe, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East. The business aims to provide high-quality courses for students and to assist universities to increase their online enrolment and revenues. The company employs 83 staff and has 28 additional contractors. Its revenues tripled between 2019 and 2020.

People
Graphite Capital – Mark Hall (senior partner); Andy Gray (managing partner); Mudassir Khan (partner); Tony Saade (investment director); Zoe Jackson (investment executive).
Higher Ed International – Justyna Dymerska (executive chair).