PG/Satya, the partnership between TPG Growth and Satya Capital Limited (“Satya”) focused on investment in Africa, today announced a definitive agreement to invest in Ecoles Yassamine, the largest private school network in Morocco. The minority investment will provide growth capital and allow Yassamine Schools to expand and improve the quality of the education they provide, and to export their know-how to other African countries. The investment in Ecoles Yassamine marks the first African investment from the recently-formed partnership of TPG Growth and Satya. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
As part of this investment, TPG/Satya will work closely with Ahmed “Sid” Benyahia and Ecoles Yassamine to offer students an education that meets internationally-observed standards and best practices, through world-class institutional partnerships. In addition to growth capital, the partnership will utilize Satya’s African expertise and TPG Growth’s global expertise and network to help Ecoles Yassamine offer world-class education to exponentially more students in Morocco, and in the future to students in other African countries.
“Morocco is one of the faster-growing economies in Africa, and with that comes a demand for increased access to quality education. By investing in Ecoles Yassamine, we have found a partner that is uniquely positioned to meet that growing demand,” said Tsega Gebreyes, managing partner of TPG/Satya. “Ahmed and his team have grown the school’s network substantially, while at the same time ensuring the highest academic standards and student performance. We are very excited to be partnering with them to continue the growth of their network and to provide more students the opportunity of a world-class education.”
“TPG/Satya’s combination of global and local perspective will be critical as we strive toward our goal of offering world-class education to more of the youth in Morocco and in due course bringing our brand and offer to other African countries as well,” said Benyahia. “TPG/Satya is the ideal partner to help us grow our network of schools and expand the educational offering to both current and perspective students. We look forward to working with them and leveraging their collective expertise as we continue on our path of growth.”
“Our investment in Ecoles Yassamine represents the first step in capitalizing on the immense growth opportunity for companies across Africa,” said Bill McGlashan, founder and managing partner of TPG Growth. “Working with Satya, we are focused on finding opportunities to help grow exciting companies like Ecoles Yassamine that are in a unique position to benefit from the macro/micro and long-term approach of our partnership.”
“Access to quality education is undoubtedly what has pushed some of the most powerful economies forward, and I’m very enthusiastic about what Ecoles Yassamine’s expansion means for Morocco, as well as the larger effect it can have on the expansion of education throughout all of Africa,” said Mo Ibrahim, founding chairman of Satya. “I couldn’t be happier that our first investment as TPG/Satya is a fundamental building block for the African economy overall.”
