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KKR backs Spanish vocational training business MasterD to bridge skills gap

KKR has agreed to acquire a majority stake in MasterD, a vocational training company in Spain.

Luis Gomez, MasterDs’s founder, and management team will reinvest alongside KKR. The investment in MasterD is the second in Europe by the KKR Global Impact fund, following its investment in UK recycling and responsible waste management company Viridor.

The investment in MasterD also follows KKR’s investment in Burning Glass last year, a labor market analytics provider which analyses supply and demand in the job market to inform hiring patterns.

KKR’s Global Impact strategy focuses on generating risk-adjusted returns by investing in companies that contribute toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

According to KKR, MasterD contributes toward SDG #4 (Quality Education) and SDG #8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), as Spain seeks to address the challenges of unemployment and a skills gap, especially among young people. 

“MasterD is helping address a critical societal challenge in improving employability and skills, which aligns very strongly with the objectives of KKR’s strategy around impact investing,” said Stanislas de Joussineau, director at KKR and head of global impact in EMEA. 

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Zaragoza, MasterD provides more than 280 courses to more than 50,000 learners annually in Spain and Portugal through its online virtual learning platform, as well as in person and hybrid training.

“MasterD’s mission has always been to improve employability and bridging the skills gap to help support economic recovery has never been as vital as it is today,” said Luis Gomez, founder, and Antonio Mayoral Serrate, CEO of MasterD.

KKR has invested over USD 5 billion in Spain since 2010 across private equity, infrastructure and other asset classes.

The investments include Alvic Group, a manufacturer of components for the furniture and decoration industry, theme park PortAventura, telecommunications infrastructure company Telxius and X-Elio, a photovoltaic energy developer.
 

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