DeVry, an Education group and Kaizen,a sector-focused private equity firm have acquired a majority stake in EduPristine, a professional certification and skill development focused player for $8 million (Rs 54 crore).
After UK’s Pearson acquired Tutorvista in 2011, this deal can be considered the first major acquisition in the education space by an overseas player.
EduPristine, founded in 2008 offers professional certifications and skills training through 20 locations, currently focused on finance, accounting, digital marketing and analytics. With the investment from DeVry Group and Kaizen, the company aims to grow ten times its current scale in the next three to four years.
The initial investors for EduPristine, Accel Partners and angel investors Dr Mark Mobius and Rajesh Sehgal of Franklin Templeton exited from the venture due to this deal. Accel Partners saw nearly five times returns of their investment, while the angel investors got 10 times returns.
Edupristine had partnered with DeVry Education Group in 2014 by launching content courses offered by one of Devry’s subsidiaries, Becker Professional Education.
DeVry provides educational services worldwide through a number of subsidiaries, including DeVry University, Becker Professional Education, Carrington College, Chamberlain College of Nursing, DeVry Brasil and Ross University School of Medicine. These institutions offer a wide array of programs in healthcare, business, technology, accounting, finance and law.
