Acquisition of Schülerhilfe

Oakley Capital Private Equity III (“Fund III”) has agreed to acquire the business and operations of ZGS Verwaltungs GmbH (“Schülerhilfe”), from its current majority shareholders Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (“DBAG”) and DBAG Fund V, a fund managed by DBAG.

Schülerhilfe is the leading provider of after school tutoring to primary and secondary school students in Germany and Austria. Established in 1974, and headquartered in Gelsenkirchen, Schülerhilfe provides small-group tutoring through a network of over 1,000 branches in Germany and Austria and currently tutors over 125,000 students per year.

Oakley is attracted to this sector because of the growing and non-cyclical demand from parents for tutoring services to help children meet annual exam requirements. The acquisition also fits with Oakley’s model of partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs – in this case with CEO Dieter Werkhausen who is investing into the deal alongside Fund III.

The business generated revenues of €63.3 million and reported EBITDA of €16.6 million for the year ended 31 December 2016. The transaction is partly funded by a unitranche debt facility from Alcentra. The Company’s contribution to the equity investment, through its interest in Fund III, is expected to be approximately €42 million dependent on the capital structure at completion.

Peter Dubens, Managing Partner Oakley Capital, commented:
“We are excited to be backing our new business partner Dieter Werkhausen and his excellent management team in this transaction, which builds on Oakley’s experience of investing in the education sector. We look forward to supporting the management team, leveraging Schülerhilfe’s strong brand and reputation to develop the business further.”