Each year ACE helps thousands of students across Europe to train in the career of their dreams
ACE Education is a leading European higher education platform, providing courses on sports management, design, fashion and hospitality to almost seven thousand students across 32 campuses in France and Spain.
Students
7,000
Acquisitions in last 12 months
2
Enrolment Growth
20%
Demand for specialised higher education is increasing as students seek to study disciplines that can grant them access to jobs in industries they are passionate about.
Europe is a hub for many of these industries, including fashion, sports, design and hospitality. Every year, ACE Education helps thousands of students train to do what they love.
Oakley first invested in AMOS (a sports management-focused education business) in 2017 alongside the Founder, Patrick Touati, building on the firm’s strong track record as one of the most experienced private equity investors in the education sector.
Oakley diversified the business to create the ACE Group, with bolt-on acquisitions and new campuses adding high-growth, high-demand disciplines such as hospitality and design to the core sports management offering
In 2021, Oakley partnered again – through its Origin Fund - with Patrick Touati and new investor Groupe Amaury to take advantage of ACE’s strong future growth potential and Amaury’s commercial and strategic benefits as one of France’s leading sports media groups.
Oakley saw the opportunity to integrate more disciplines, open new campuses, and create a more scalable platform to drive sustainable growth and improved efficiency.
Groupe Amaury is a diversified sports media and events business, owning international sports newspaper L’Equipe alongside high-profile events such as the Tour de France and the Dakar Rally.
Joining forces with Amaury allowed Oakley and ACE to involve a strategic partner that has deep expertise in ACE’s core sport vertical.
Providing real-life work experience and employment opportunities to ACE students is a key differentiator for the business. Amaury is helping to build partnerships with sports clubs and sporting events, providing ACE with a higher quality product with access to unique expertise and more hands-on professional opportunities during courses.
More campuses across more locations means access to a wider student base. International expansion means more choice for student mobility. Oakley has supported ACE’s roll-out of new greenfield sites across France and Spain, driving organic growth and geographic expansion
These include new campuses in smaller cities such as Montpellier and Strasbourg and beyond larger hubs such as Paris, thereby increasing accessibility and affordability for students. ACE has also introduced multiple brands into larger, shared campuses, including at ACE’s Campus Sud des Métiers in Nice, Southern France, in order to create a more dynamic and diverse student experience
Leveraging its deep expertise in buy-and-build strategies, Oakley has supported ACE’s diversification into new disciplines, with the acquisition of leading French fashion business school EIDM and, more recently, the addition of applied arts school ENAAI, tapping into growing demand for design and animation
Key to the success of ACE’s M&A strategy is effective integration and professionalisation. Throughout both phases of investment, Oakley has actively supported ACE’s investment in its centralised operations and support functions, including a focus on quality teaching, marketing, finance and operations.
Monitoring key teaching and student performance KPIs as well as the introduction of career coaching for student will support continual improvements in student satisfaction and enable schools to better understand students’ needs
The results are clear to see: student enrolments have grown more than 40% over the last 12 months. Over 80% of ACE students are in employment within six months of graduation.
In partnership with Oakley and Groupe Amaury, ACE Education is on track to achieving its goal of becoming one of Southern Europe’s leading educational platforms for vocational learning, helping even more students to achieve success in the careers they are passionate about.
