Oakley Capital Investments Limited – Inspired welcomes Warburg Pincus as an Investor

Oakley Capital Investments Limited¹ (AIM: OCI) is pleased to announce that Inspired, a leading global group of premium schools, has received a significant strategic growth investment from Warburg Pincus, a global growth private equity firm, and TA Associates, an existing shareholder, comprising both primary and secondary investment. Oakley Capital Private Equity II (“Fund II”)² is an investor in Inspired while OCI also holds a direct stake in the business. 

As part of the transaction Fund II has sold down a part of its stake. OCI will continue to hold its direct stake in Inspired, as well as its remaining indirect interest through Fund II. Financial terms have not been disclosed, however the Company’s share of proceeds from this transaction will be approximately €40 million. Following the transaction, OCI’s interest in Inspired, through both its direct investment and through Fund II, is valued at approximately €102 million. This, combined with the sell down proceeds, will add approximately 21 pence to the NAV per share compared to the December 2018 position. 

Inspired, founded by Nadim M Nsouli, is a co-educational, non-denominational, independent school group designed to inspire students to achieve their maximum potential in a nurturing, progressive academic environment. Inspired has grown rapidly by building new schools and acquiring existing successful ones around the world. Inspired is one of the leading global groups of premium schools educating over 38,000 students between the ages of 1 and 18 on 5 continents. The company has offices in London, Milan, Johannesburg, Bogota and Auckland. 

Peter Dubens, Managing Partner of Oakley Capital, commented: 

“Since backing Nadim Nsouli when he founded Inspired in 2013 with four schools, we have seen him and his team develop the business into one of the world’s leading global premium schools groups with more than 50 schools. We are excited to welcome Warburg Pincus as an Inspired shareholder and look forward to working together to support Inspired through the next stage of its growth.” 

Nadim Nsouli, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Inspired, commented:

“In seeking an investor to enable us to continue building and acquiring leading schools around the world, our goal was to have an international firm with a history of working with entrepreneurial companies to accelerate growth. Since starting Inspired, we have been fortunate to have shareholders that share our commitment to, and passion for premium education and with a long-term investment horizon. We now welcome Warburg Pincus as an investor in Inspired for the next phase of our exciting journey in building the premier global group of premium schools.”