Oakley Capital Investments says that Oakley Capital Private Equity III (“Fund III”) has agreed to acquire the business and operations of ZGS Verwaltungs GmbH (“Schuelerhilfe”), from its current majority shareholders Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) and DBAG Fund V, a fund managed by DBAG.
Schuelerhilfe is the leading provider of after school tutoring to primary and secondary school students in Germany and Austria. Established in 1974, and headquartered in Gelsenkirchen, Schuelerhilfe provides small-group tutoring through a network of over 1,000 branches in Germany and Austria and currently tutors over 125,000 students per year.
Oakley says it is attracted to this sector because of the growing and non-cyclical demand from parents for tutoring services to help children meet annual exam requirements. They also say that the acquisition also fits with Oakley’s model of partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs – in this case with CEO Dieter Werkhausen who is investing into the deal alongside Fund III.
The business generated revenues of EUR63.3 million and reported EBITDA of EUR16.6 million for the year ended 31 December 2016. The transaction is partly funded by a unitranche debt facility from Alcentra. The Company’s contribution to the equity investment, through its interest in Fund III, is expected to be approximately EUR42 million dependent on the capital structure at completion.
Peter Dubens, Director of OCL, commented: “We are excited to be backing our new business partner Dieter Werkhausen and his excellent management team in this transaction, which builds on Oakley’s experience of investing in the education sector. We look forward to supporting the management team, leveraging Schuelerhilfe’s strong brand and reputation to develop the business further.”
Dieter Werkhausen, CEO of Schuelerhilfe, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Oakley as our new partner and are convinced that, with their support and expertise in education in a number of countries, we will continue to grow the business.”
OCL : Oakley Capital buys Schuelerhilfe