Oakley Capital’s Oakley Capital Private Equity III (Fund III) and other co-investors have reached an agreement to sell their stakes in ACE Education (ACE) (formerly AMOS), a private vocational higher education platform in France and Spain.
The exit will generate a gross return on investment of c2.1x MM and c27 per cent IRR to Fund III.
As part of the transaction, Oakley Capital Origin Fund (Origin Fund) will invest cEUR40 million alongside Groupe Amaury (Amaury) and ACE’s founder, Patrick Touati, to benefit from the strong future growth potential, as well as the significant commercial and strategic benefits Amaury can bring to ACE, given their prominence in the French sports industry.
Fund III first invested in ACE in 2017 through the platform acquisition of AMOS, the leading business school in France solely focused on sports management. Since then, the group has been transformed via three bolt-on acquisitions and five new campus openings. Today, ACE is a diversified higher education group with over 20 campuses and over 4,000 students, and operates under four brands: AMOS, which remains the leading French business school focused entirely on sports management; ESBS, a sports management school based in Valencia, Spain; ESDAC, the largest group of design schools in South East France; and CMH, a leading higher education provider in the hotel management, luxury brand and tourism sectors.
Amaury is the leading designer, producer, and distributor of mainstream sports content in France. Amaury’s investment will further reinforce AMOS’s position as the leading dedicated sports management business school with all of its stakeholders including applicants, students, and employers in the sports industry. As owners, the Origin Fund and Amaury will benefit from strong growth momentum generated by recently opened campuses, as well as growth in enrolments which are expected to increase at a 12 per cent CAGR over the next five years. Together, the owners will look to further expand and diversify the platform through targeted acquisitions.
Peter Dubens, Managing Partner of Oakley Capital, says: “We would like to thank the ACE management team for their continued hard work in developing the business and we look forward to the partnership with Amaury, who, given their unrivalled reputation in the French sports industry, will bring valuable experience and industry knowledge to support the growth of ACE.”
