KKR-backed EQuest buys Vietnam school operator

The size of the deal was not disclosed. KNE, which operates Canadian International School (CIS), Bilingual Canadian International School (BCIS), Albert Einstein School (AES), and Canada-Vietnam Kindergarten (CVK), received funding as recently as September 2021 from Excelsior Capital Vietnam.

KKR invested in EQuest through its USD 1.3bn global impact fund in May 2021 joining a shareholder roster that already featured Tael Partners. The company serves approximately 155,000 students across six bilingual K-12 schools with multiple campuses, five tertiary and vocational institutions, and three English as a second language (ESL) schools.

EQuest also offers a series of online learning applications and platforms used in approximately 400 primary and secondary schools nationwide.

KNE will augment the bilingual K-12 portfolio, enlarging it to 16 schools with coverage of Vietnam’s north, central, and south regions. EQuest and KNE will share financial resources, best management practices, exchange teaching resources, technology platforms, and development experiences, with a view to enhancing learning outcomes, according to a statement.

KNE’s four schools have more than 3,000 enrolled students and claim some of the most modern educational facilities in Vietnam. It is the first and only private educational institution in the country to provide K-12 programmes under the supervision of the Toronto City Department of Education, Canada’s largest public education division.

“The primary goal of this strategic cooperation is to help transform CIS, BCIS, AES, and CVK into the most prestigious and most trusted international and bilingual school system in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces,” said Nguyen Quoc Toan, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of EQuest.

Vietnam’s rising middle class is often flagged as a demand driver for high-quality education services. Previous private equity activity in the bilingual K-12 space includes a USD 12m Series A last year for Point Avenue and TPG Capital’s acquisition of a controlling stake in Vietnam Australia International School (VAS) in 2017.

The GP has explored extending its ownership of VAS by raising a single-asset continuation fund, according to several sources familiar with the situation, though a deal has yet to materialise.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Consumer
• Expansion
• Trade sale
• Vietnam
• Education
• KKR
• Excelsior Capital