Advent International, one of the largest private equity investors, has agreed to acquire Faculdade da Serra Gaucha (FSG), a private higher education company located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Article continues below
The transaction, subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed in the first half of 2015. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Founded in 2003 by two professors, FSG is the second-largest higher education company in Caxias do Sul, the second-largest city in Rio Grande do Sul.
The company, which provides undergraduate and graduate courses to more than 10,000 students, has a well-established reputation for academic excellence as most of its courses are graded four out of five by the Ministry of Education in Brazil. In addition to its headquarters in Caxias do Sul, FSG has operations in the cities of Bento Gonçalves, Farroupilha and IjuÃ.
The acquisition of FSG represents Advent's second investment in Brazil's higher education sector. Between 2009 and 2013, the firm co-controlled Kroton Educacional, the largest private education company in Latin America and one of the largest worldwide.
With Advent's support and guidance, Kroton expanded its student base 25-fold from 40,000 to more than 1 million and made seven acquisitions including IUNI, Unopar, Uniasselvi and the merger with Anhanguera.
Advent has been investing in Brazil since opening its São Paulo office in 1997. The firm's local team of 17 professionals has worked on 20 investments in Brazil and other Latin American markets and supported numerous acquisitions by existing portfolio companies.
Over the past 15 months, Advent has invested in two other Brazilian companies: Allied, a leading independent marketer and provider of technology products; and Cataratas do Iguaçu, the largest concessionaire and operator of services in Brazil's national parks.
Advent also helped to fund its portfolio company Biotoscana's acquisition of United Medical, a specialty pharmaceutical company, and facilitated the merger of Dudalina with publicly listed Restoque, creating the largest high-end apparel retailer in Brazil. ■