Fintech PR
Neuberger Berman Private Markets, EQT and CPP Investments Form Consortium to Acquire Leading International Schools Organization Nord Anglia Education
- The new majority ownership group will help to strengthen Nord Anglia’s mission of delivering world-class education and cultivating the next generation of global leaders and innovators
- Transaction values Nord Anglia at USD 14.5 billion, underscoring its leadership in the global education sector
- Global institutional investors will diversify Nord Anglia’s shareholder base, bringing long-term support for sustained growth and stability
STOCKHOLM, Oct. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Neuberger Berman Private Markets, EQT, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPP Investments”), together with global institutional investors (collectively the “Consortium”), today announced the signing of definitive share purchase agreements in Nord Anglia Education (“Nord Anglia” or the “Company”) for an enterprise value of USD 14.5 billion. Existing owners EQT and CPP Investments will remain shareholders in the Company through a new fund investment and reinvestment, respectively.
Nord Anglia is a leading international schools organization, operating over 80 schools in 33 countries and educating more than 85,000 students from ages 2 to 18. Its students consistently achieve excellent academic results, with Year 12 graduates frequently accepted into the world’s top 100 universities. Central to Nord Anglia’s educational philosophy is its personalized learning approach, where teaching is tailored to each student’s unique learning style. Learning experiences are further enhanced through Nord Anglia’s exclusive global partnerships with distinguished institutions such as UNICEF, MIT, Juilliard, and IMG Academy, alongside the Company’s proprietary digital learning platforms.
The announced agreement to acquire Nord Anglia further extends EQT’s longstanding relationship with the Company, which began with its initial investment in 2008. In 2017, EQT strengthened its commitment by increasing its stake in the Company and welcoming CPP Investments as a partner. EQT and CPP Investments now continue their support of Nord Anglia, joined by Neuberger Berman, and other global institutional investors. EQT is investing in Nord Anglia through its BPEA Private Equity Fund VIII. CPP Investments will reinvest a portion of its stake in support of the acquisition.
Neuberger Berman, as a new strategic partner, will play an integral role in strengthening the Consortium’s commitment to supporting Nord Anglia’s continued growth through both organic and inorganic strategies. Alongside Neuberger Berman, EQT, and CPP Investments will continue their close collaboration with Nord Anglia to guide the Company into its next phase and enhance its ability to deliver world-class education in key global markets.
“Nord Anglia’s extensive track record and unwavering commitment to supporting over 85,000 students worldwide uniquely positions the company for future growth. We are honored to lead a consortium of investors who share our passion for delivering exceptional educational experiences,” said David Stonberg, Managing Director at Neuberger Berman. “We are excited to partner with the EQT team, whose deep industry expertise and proven collaboration with Nord Anglia’s management enhance this investment,” added Jonathan Shofet, Managing Director at Neuberger Berman. “Together with CPP Investments, we aim to support Nord Anglia’s mission of delivering world-class education.”
Jack Hennessy, Partner within the EQT Private Equity advisory team, said, “EQT has had the privilege of partnering with Nord Anglia since 2008, and we’ve developed a deep connection with this exceptional business. Over the years, we’ve witnessed Nord Anglia grow from six schools to more than 80 which today serve more than 85,000 students across the globe. Alongside this growth, we’re proud to have helped elevate teaching excellence through industry-leading partnerships established under our ownership. With today’s announcement, we are thrilled to continue this journey with Neuberger Berman, CPP Investments, and our global institutional co-investors, and support Nord Anglia’s continued success and innovation in the global education space.”
Caitlin Gubbels, Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Private Equity, CPP Investments, said, “Nord Anglia was CPP Investments’ first direct equity investment in the private education sector, and we are proud to have been a partner, alongside EQT, in its growth globally over the years. Our reinvestment allows us to remain committed to Nord Anglia while delivering an attractive return to the CPP Fund. We are highly confident in the growth potential of the sector and look forward to working with new investors.”
Andrew Fitzmaurice, Chief Executive Officer, Nord Anglia Education, said, “Families choose our schools because we help our students gain the academic outcomes, confidence, and life skills they need to succeed in the future. At the heart of our students’ achievements are our high-quality teachers. Our ability to attract and develop outstanding teachers sees us receive over 60 applications for every teaching vacancy, reflecting the strength of our world-class professional learning program and career pathways. Since day one, EQT and CPP Investments have shared our educational philosophy and with the addition of Neuberger Berman, we are further strengthening this successful partnership. Focused on improving students’ outcomes, we will accelerate our research of new teaching and learning practices, curricula innovation, and the growth and development of our global teaching community.”
Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Morgan Stanley are serving as lead financial advisors to Nord Anglia, Lazard is serving as private capital advisor to Nord Anglia, and Deutsche Bank and HSBC are serving as financial advisors to Nord Anglia. Latham & Watkins is acting as legal advisor to Nord Anglia. Debevoise & Plimpton and Ropes & Gray are acting as legal advisors to EQT.
With this transaction, BPEA Private Equity Fund VIII is expected to be 80-90 percent invested (including closed and/or signed investments, announced public offers, if applicable, and less any expected syndication) based on target fund size and subject to customary regulatory approvals.
The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, and may not be used or relied upon in connection with any offer or solicitation. Any offer or solicitation in respect of BPEA Private Equity Fund VIII will be made only through a confidential private placement memorandum and related documents which will be furnished to qualified investors on a confidential basis in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The information contained herein is not for publication or distribution to persons in the United States of America. Any securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and may not be offered or sold without registration thereunder or pursuant to an available exemption therefrom. Any offering of securities to be made in the United States would have to be made by means of an offering document that would be obtainable from the issuer or its agents and would contain detailed information about the issuer of the securities and its management, as well as financial information. The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration.
Contacts:
For Neuberger Berman:
Alex Samuelson, +1 212 476 5392, [email protected]
For EQT:
EQT Press Office, [email protected]
For CPP Investments:
Connie Ling, +852 3959 3476, [email protected]
For Nord Anglia Education:
James Russell, +44 (0) 7770 365437, [email protected]
Edward Simpkins +44 (0)7947 740551, [email protected]
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
The following files are available for download:
|
241021 PR_Consortium to Acquire Nord Anglia Education |
|
|
Avenues New York – NAE |
|
|
NAIS Dublin |
Fintech PR
Thunes Unveils QR Code Payments Solution Connecting Global Financial Apps to China’s Cashless Economy
Empowering foreign mobile wallets and financial institutions with seamless access to Chinese QR code payments
LONDON and BEIJING, Oct. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Thunes, the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world, today announced the launch of its revolutionary QR Code Payments solution. This innovation allows Members of the Thunes’ Direct Global Network – including mobile wallets, neo-banks, and banks with mobile capabilities – to connect directly to China’s QR code payment systems operated by the Digital Currency Institute (DCI) and NetsUnion Clearing Corporation (NUCC). Now, users of foreign mobile wallets and financial apps traveling to China can seamlessly make payments by scanning merchant-presented QR codes for payment methods like e-CNY, Alipay, and WeChat Pay, transforming the travel experience for millions.
As China promotes its visa-free travel policies initiative to boost international tourism, Thunes’ launch of the QR Code Payments solution is timely. With an anticipated surge in foreign travelers, the ability to pay using QR codes, the preferred payment method in China, is crucial for providing a smooth, convenient, and local-like experience when visiting China.
According to the Payment System Report, published by the People’s Bank of China, there has been a 25% reduction in ATMs over the past six years, highlighting the accelerating shift toward a cashless economy. Forbes further reports that mobile payments now account for over 85% of all transactions in China.
Foreign travelers often face significant challenges when paying: traditional foreign credit cards are seldom accepted, especially in street shops and at small to medium-sized merchants. Travelers typically need to download and register with local Chinese payment apps that request sensitive personal data, causing friction and inconvenience. Thunes’ QR Code Payments solution addresses these pain points by offering a seamless, secure, and user-friendly payment experience for end-users of foreign financial apps such as mobile wallets and neo-banks.
Thunes is already working with valued Members of Thunes’ Direct Global Network, such as Airtel, Hanpass (South Korea), m-Pesa (Kenya), and Vodacom (Tanzania), to make the QR Code Payments solution available for their customers traveling to China. Other Members are expected to join soon, expanding the reach and impact of this innovative solution.
Floris de Kort, CEO of Thunes, stated: “Our Direct Global Network continues to break down barriers for our Members, enabling them to offer their customers unrivaled access to local payment systems worldwide. With this launch, we’re empowering our Members to provide their app users the convenience of paying like a local in China, quickly, dependably, and with full transparency. By enabling Thunes’ Chinese QR code payments into their apps, mobile wallets, neo-banks, and financial institutions can enhance the user experience while unlocking new revenue streams and leading the way in global payment innovation.”
Ian Ferrao, CEO of Airtel Money, said: “Airtel Money has been a long-standing Member of Thunes’ Direct Global Network, and Thunes continually adds value for us and our mobile wallet users. Thanks to their innovative solution, Thunes’ QR Code Payments will serve as a lifeline for African travelers, allowing them to effortlessly navigate China’s digital payment landscape and make purchases with ease, enhancing their overall travel experience.”
Jay Choi, Head of Growth Strategy at Hanpass, concluded: “As a Member of Thunes’ Direct Global Network, we can offer our customers instant and dependable cross-border payment solutions. With the Thunes’ QR Code Payments capability embedded in our application, Koreans visiting China will be able to pay local merchants without the hassle of managing cash or the fear of a transaction being declined. Thunes’ innovation enables our mission to always provide the most user-friendly services to our customers.”
About Thunes:
Thunes is the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world. Thunes’ proprietary Direct Global Network allows Members to make payments in real-time in over 130 countries and more than 80 currencies. Thunes’ Network connects directly to over 7 billion mobile wallets and bank accounts worldwide, via more than 320 different payment methods, such as GCash, M-Pesa, Airtel, MTN, Orange, JazzCash, Easypaisa, AliPay, WeChat Pay and many more. Thunes’ Direct Global Network differentiates itself through its worldwide reach, in-house SmartX Treasury System and Fortress Compliance Platform, ensuring Members of the Network receive unrivaled speed, control, visibility, protection, and cost efficiencies when making real-time payments, globally. Members of Thunes’ Direct Global Network include gig economy giants like Uber and Deliveroo, super-apps like Grab and WeChat, MTOs, fintechs, PSPs and banks. Headquartered in Singapore, Thunes has offices in 15 locations, including Abidjan, Barcelona, Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Manila, Nairobi, Paris, Riyadh, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Shanghai. For more information, visit: https://www.thunes.com.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/thunes-unveils-qr-code-payments-solution-connecting-global-financial-apps-to-chinas-cashless-economy-302282874.html
Fintech PR
Xinhua Silk Road: Eastern China city welcomes record-high foreign investment amid vibrant emerging industries
BEIJING, Oct. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — After paid-in foreign investment renewed to a 20-year high last year, Jiangyin, a private economy-reliant city in east China, saw its January-August data of the kind surge to 1.16 billion U.S. dollars.
The city, as a pacesetter among comparable localities in Jiangsu Province, absorbed the eye-catching foreign investment from both old and new foreign investors eager to participate in its strategically emerging industries.
Boasting relatively resilient foundations for integrated circuit, new energy, high-end equipment, bio-pharmacy, and other industries, Jiangyin City embraced 44 new foreign-invested projects in the first eight months of this year.
For instance, the city welcomed in August a new investment project from Trustchip Korea, which planned to build its Jiangyin headquarters and semiconductor equipment assembly and production base there.
Upon operation, annual sales of the base is predicted to reach 350 million yuan. Its second phase mulls construction of the China-Korea chip valley industrial park, where a 3rd generation automotive-grade semiconductor module packaging and wafer factory is planned to be founded.
Together with Jiangyin City, the South Korean company endeavors to jointly build a new model that exemplifies vibrancy of the integrated circuit industry there.
As a miniature of foreign companies’ participation in the major strategically emerging industries of Jiangyin, 30 others such as Unilever and EDF also established new investment programs in Jiangyin this year.
Other “old friends”, referring here to existing foreign-funded enterprises in Jiangyin, scaled up their investment too.
After 10 million U.S. dollars of investment out of profits were in place in early 2024, Alfa Laval (Jiangyin) equipment manufacturing Co., Ltd. who has been running business in China for 30 years intended to upsize its investment by 10 million U.S. dollars next year.
All of these resulted largely from the city’s unremitting efforts in creating a fair, rule of the law-based, policy-leading and innovation-encouraging business environment for foreign-funded enterprises.
Under a 3-year action plan to pool foreign-funded enterprises’ regional headquarters, real rewards were provided to foster their investment expansion, R&D innovation and profits-based reinvestment in Jiangyin.
Currently, these business-friendly policies and life facilitation measures of six aspects regarding entry and exit, payment, working, living and travelling, consumption, education and medicare of foreigners are translating into pragmatic boosters for the city to attract more foreign investors.
Original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/342713.html
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2536883/Jiangyin.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/xinhua-silk-road-eastern-china-city-welcomes-record-high-foreign-investment-amid-vibrant-emerging-industries-302282861.html
LONDON, Oct. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Most of the approximately 9,500 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) forecast to leave the UK this year are expected to head to the EU, which looks set to enjoy an influx of +6,500 millionaires from Britain by the end of December. The UAE will welcome the next biggest cohort fleeing the UK (+800 HNWIs), followed by the US (+720), Australasia (+300), and the Caribbean Islands in 5th place, with +250 millionaires making a permanent move to their tropical shores.
In a follow-up to the 2024 Henley Wealth Migration Dashboard, international investment migration advisory firm Henley & Partners and New World Wealth have published their latest forecast ahead of next week’s UK budget.
Based on data over the past nine months, the UK’s wealth exodus or WEXIT is expected to include 85 centi-millionaires and 10 billionaires, and in an ironic reversal of Brexit fortunes, 68% are heading for Europe, with favored destinations being Italy, Malta, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, Monaco, Cyprus, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.
As Stuart Wakeling at Henley & Partners’ UK office points out, “the last two quarters have been record-breaking, with a 160% increase in applications by UK-based investors for investment migration programs over the last six months compared to the previous six months (October 2023 to March 2024). Brits have risen from 20th place on our firm’s client source market list in 2018 to 4th place this year in terms of global demand.”
The UK’s high tax rates and concerns about additional tax hikes that could be announced in Labour’s first budget in 14 years, are highlighted as being among the main reasons. New World Wealth’s Head of Research, Andrew Amoils, says the UK’s capital gains tax and estate duty rates are among the highest in the world. “What many politicians and academics in the UK fail to understand is that there are several high-income countries globally that don’t levy capital gains tax, including the likes of Singapore, the UAE, and even New Zealand. There is also a much longer list of countries that don’t charge estate duty, including high-growth markets such as Canada, Australia, and Malta.”
Peter Ferrigno, Director of Tax Services at Henley & Partners, says by promising not to increase income tax or VAT, the new government has limited its ability to raise new revenues. “Inheritance tax is at 40% rate and applies to estates above GBP 325,000, which is very high by global standards. Where the assets are still under the control of the original owner, we expect increasing restrictions on whether the transfer is effective for tax purposes or not. As regards the ‘carried interest’ loophole, the latest thinking is that taxing it at the full rate of income tax would drive a large chunk of the industry away, so we expect some change, but not all the way.”
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/wexit-wealthy-brits-exit-uk-for-eu-ahead-of-budget-302280346.html
-
Fintech PR7 days agoPharmaMar Announces Positive and Statistically Significant Overall Survival and Progression-Free Survival Results for Zepzelca® (lurbinectedin) and Atezolizumab Combination in First-Line Maintenance Therapy for Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer
-
Fintech PR6 days agoCoinDesk bolsters information services offering with strategic acquisition of CCData and CryptoCompare
-
Fintech PR5 days agoEQT Exeter Real Estate Income Trust acquires 200,000 square-foot industrial property in Seattle for over $80M, bringing total capital deployed to approximately $390M since inception
-
Fintech PR6 days agoHGC Global Communications Launches Data Center Interconnect Clusters to Transform Connectivity Across Asia
-
Fintech PR4 days agoKroll Liquidators Secured Multi-Million Dollar Settlement Between Emergent Fidelity Technologies and FTX Estate Approved by US Bankruptcy Court
-
Fintech PR4 days ago
Deepening International Friendship and Cooperation! The 6th China-CEEC Local Leaders’ Meeting Held in Yantai
-
Fintech PR4 days agoRace to the Top: Bybit Adds $1 Million to WSOT 2024 Prize Pool – Final Days to Register!
-
Fintech PR6 days agoManulife and World Economic Forum Announce Winners in ‘Prospering in Longevity Challenge’ to Drive Health and Financial Resiliency