30 Mar 2015
Investcorp, a global provider and manager of alternative investment products, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Nobel Learning, a leading provider of private preschool through high school education in the United States, from Leeds Equity Partners.
Founded in 1984, Nobel Learning operates a network of 176 schools across 18 states with a commitment to outstanding education. The company also has an accredited online private school that offers college preparatory programs to students from over 55 countries worldwide. With approximately 5,000 teachers and staff and 25,000 students, Nobel Learning is one of the largest private operators in the U.S. Investcorp is joined in the acquisition by its co-investors and partners, Mumtalakat, the investment arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
“We are pleased to have concluded another transaction that is aligned with Investcorp’s strategy of investing in companies that we believe have the potential to grow with the support of our hands-on approach to investment,” said Mohammed Al-Shroogi, Investcorp, President of Gulf Business. “Nobel Learning has a strong presence in a fragmented and growing defensive market. We believe this provides us with the ideal platform from which to apply our operational and financial expertise to enhance its educational product as well as its reach across the US and around the world.”
“Nobel Learning has achieved tremendous progress over the last several years in further developing the quality of our educational product and building a very strong portfolio of on-ground and online schools. We believe that we are well-positioned to capitalize on the opportunities within the private education market in the U.S.,” said George Bernstein, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nobel Learning. “We are extremely pleased to partner with Investcorp, which can support our expansion with operational resources, real estate expertise, and access to their global network. We look forward to benefitting from their experience in accelerating the growth of their portfolio companies as we continue to invest in our curriculum, our on-ground and online school platforms and the professional development of our staff.”
Mahmood Hashim Al Kooheji, Chief Executive Officer of Mumtalakat, said: “Nobel Learning has an attractive platform for delivering high quality education and we will work together to support their vision to further expand across the US as well as globally. This acquisition fits in with Mumtalakat’s investment strategy that is focused on investing in commercially viable projects, where we look at long term partnerships to ensure we deliver growth for the benefit of all stakeholders.”