H.I.G. to sell ISE to Inspired

H.I.G. Capital‘s European arm H.I.G. Europe has agreed to sell International School of Europe Group, a group of schools in Italy, to Inspired. No financial terms were disclosed. The deal is expected to close in mid-September 2016.

PRESS RELEASE

MILAN, Italy–(BUSINESS WIRE)–H.I.G. Europe (“H.I.G.”), the European arm of global private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Inspired relating to the sale of the International School of Europe Group (“ISE”). Closing of the transaction is expected in mid-September 2016. Terms were not disclosed.
ISE, founded in 1958 by the Formiga family, is a leading group of schools in Italy with over 1,800 local and expatriate students between the ages of 3 and 18 years old in Milan, Modena, Monza and Siena. ISE is one of the leading IB schools in Europe.
Raffaele Legnani, Managing Director of H.I.G. and head of H.I.G.’s activities in Italy, commented: “Paolo and Franco Formiga have been terrific partners for H.I.G. on this project and have helped us deliver an outstanding result for H.I.G. and its investors.”

Paolo Formiga stated: “We would like to thank H.I.G. for their assistance in the development of ISE and we are excited to join the Inspired community of schools that will provide additional opportunities of growth for ISE’s students and teachers.”

Nadim M. Nsouli, Founder & Chairman of Inspired, added: “We look forward to welcoming the students, parents and staff of ISE into our family of schools. We believe this represents an exciting development for both Inspired and ISE and look forward to working with the ISE leadership team to build upon the schools’ impressive history of providing families in Milan, Modena, Monza and Siena with world class international education.”

About the International School of Europe Group
The International School of Europe Group is a leading group of schools in Italy providing an outstanding education to over 1,800 local and expatriate students between the ages of 3 and 18 years old in Milan, Modena, Monza and Siena.

About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with €18 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:

1. H.I.G. Capital’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalisations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.

2. H.I.G. Capital’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.

3. H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.
Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of €22billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.

About Inspired
Inspired (www.inspirededu.co.uk) is a leading premium schools organization in Europe, Australia, Latin America and Africa. Inspired’s expansion is backed by Educas (www.educasinternational.com), an education investment firm founded by Nadim M Nsouli. The addition of ISE will expand the group’s global network to a total of 23 schools, providing an outstanding education to over 15,000 students. As part of Inspired’s family of international schools, students and staff at ISE will benefit from the support of world-leading educational experts and access to state of the art learning platforms.

* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.