Manama:
Mahmood Rafique, Editor:With launch of Britus Education, a K-12 education platform, the Gulf Finance House (GFH) Group announced to invest $200million initially in private education sector.
Britus Education is designed to take advantage of value opportunities in the fragmented a trillion-dollar global private education industry.
To mark the launch, GFH and Britus Education are gearing up to host an education roundtable forum to be attended by regional and global industry experts and investors on the Tuesday on the side lines of the 26th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) in the Kingdom of Bahrain, a leading hub for Islamic banking and finance and a growing centre for education investment.
In line with the launch of Britus Education, GFH has already secured seed K-12 schools in the Middle East for the platform, developed a robust deal pipeline and plans to conclude various acquisitions in the coming months with an initial target asset of $200 million. In line with the strategy Britus Education will employ, the forum will look at a number of key themes and opportunities including education for the many not the few; government in partnership with the private sector; and delivering returns to all.
The roundtable was attended by senior representatives from the Bahrain Economic Development Board, UNDP, Ministry of Education of Bahrain, Ministry of Education of Oman, Education Quality Authority of Bahrain, among others.
“I am pleased to unveil our Britus Education platform in line with GFH’s strategy to deliver further value for our investors and shareholders and create a positive impact on the quality of education in the Middle East and globally,” Hisham Alrayes, CEO of GFH Financial Group, said.
“The strength and significance of the experts and partners that will join us for our forum underscores the importance of investment in the education space and GFH’s position as one of the most active private equity players in the regional education sector with a track-record of consolidating valuable partnerships and creating value for schools and investors alike. Developed and emerging markets have both seen a surge in private education during the last decade, where population growth and macroeconomic gains have supported the upward trend,” he added.
“The establishment of Britus Education, with an industry leading team of experts will allow us to capitalise on these factors and help our investors benefit from the industry’s growth via structured investments that take advantage of attractive opportunities we have and will continue to identify.”
Britus Education will focus on investing in performing schools that can be further improved through maximising student capacity, enhancing student academic outcomes, and optimising fee structures to be affordable for the rapidly-expanding mid-market. Britus Education will create for GFH and its investors a pipeline of strong, income-generating opportunities in a defensive sector. It also provides exposure to a sector with high growth prospects and the resilience to deliver steady results regardless of volatility in the investment cycle.
