Group behind State’s most expensive day school may be valued at €14bn

The company which runs the most expensive day school in Ireland may be valued at as much as $15 billion (€14 billion), as its investors seek to cash out at least part of their holding in the business.

International school operator Nord Anglia is drawing interest from private equity players and sovereign wealth funds as its owners look to monetise their stakes, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Buyout firms KKR, Permira and Hellman & Friedman are among potential suitors seeking controlling stakes in Nord Anglia, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Gulf wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC are exploring taking a minority stake in the business, they said.

Nord Anglia, founded in 1972, operates more than 80 international schools including boarding schools across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. It offers education from kindergarten to age 18. It’s school in south Dublin, which opened in 2018, commands fees of more than €23,000 per year.

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The company’s big shareholders – EQT AB and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) – hired banks to explore a sale or listing of the business.

EQT is keen to retain a stake in Nord Anglia, while CPPIB is looking to exit its investment, the people said. Representatives for EQT and CPPIB declined to comment.

Nord Anglia could be valued at as much as $15 billion in any deal, they said.

[ Losses narrow at country’s most expensive day school ]

The wealth funds may also team up with some of the interested private equity firms to form a consortium, the people said. Representatives for KKR, Permira, Hellman & Friedman, AIDA and GIC declined to comment.

Baring Private Equity Asia, which later became part of EQT, first invested in Nord Anglia in 2008. Nine years later, it teamed up with CPPIB to take the firm private in a $4.3 billion deal.

Education has been a busy sector for private equity deals in recent years. Blackstone is nearing a deal to buy some of Dulwich College International’s Asian assets for about $600 million, while KKR is said to be exploring options for EuroKids International, including selling its controlling stake in the Indian preschool and early-learning chain. – Bloomberg