CLSA commits $22m to India’s Resonance Eduventures

Resonance was set up in 2001 and provides coaching for entrance examinations to students interested in pursuing graduation courses in the fields of engineering and medical sciences. It has a network of more than 38 centers across 18 Indian cities and has trained over 125,000 students since its inception. India's test preparation market is projected to grow by 15-20% a year and be worth $3.4 billion by 2012, according to CLSA.

This is Resonance's second round of funding, following a commitment from the India Build-Out Fund, managed by Milestone Religare Investment Advisors, in 2010.

"The Indian education sector is particularly appealing to CLSACP due to the high demand for quality education. In particular, training for the Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IITJEE), the gateway to the reputed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), is in high demand with more than 450,000 candidates competing annually to secure ranks in the top 2-3% in order to gain entrance to the IIT," Richard Pyvis, executive chairman of CLSA Capital Partners, said in a statement.

"Resonance, being one of the industry leaders in IIT-JEE coaching, is very well positioned to capitalize on increasing future demand."

India's private education sector has proved popular among private equity players, partly due to the poor standards in public education and rising disposable incomes. In June, Fidelity Growth Partners reportedly took an undisclosed minority stake in Mind Shaper Technologies, which provides more than 85,000 educational modules to 500 schools. Kaizen Management Advisors also has a strong track record for education sector investments.

CLSA Capital Partners has $2.7 billion in assets under management through a collection of funds targeting real estate, Japanese mid-market buyouts, cleantech, mezzanine and transport. The ARIA vehicles focus on pan-Asia growth capital opportunities.

In July, ARIA Investment Partners III paid $20 million for a minority stake in auto financing firm PT Sinar Mitra Sepadan Finance, the first investment in Indonesia by any ARIA vehicle. It followed up in September with the purchase of a minority stake in Hong Kong casual clothing company 2% Limited for $12 million.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Expansion
• CLSA Capital Partners
• India
• Growth capital
• Education
• Milestone Capital Partners