Value Creation Case Studies

APIIT Education Group

APIIT Education Group

Background

  • APIIT Education Group consists of Asia Pacific Universities (APU) and Asia Pacific Schools (APS)
  • APU is one of the leading private universities in Malaysia, rated SETARA 5 by the Ministry of Higher Education in 2017. It is one of the top universities with high foreign student recruitment, making up for 55% of its total student population.
  • APS, its private school is one of the largest in Klang Valley with a student enrolment of over 2,000, offering national and international curriculums

Investment Rationale

  • Strong track record of delivering revenue and student number growth
  • Strong cashflow generating ability
  • Increase bumiputera participation in the private education sector

Transaction Details

Investment type
Buy-out of non-core assets of GLC
Acquisition Date
February 2011
Ownership
100%
Divested
20 Dec 2017

Key Value Creation Metrics

  • Strengthening Financial Oversight

    • Institutionalise the financial reporting function
    • Proper financial reporting structure was established and monthly meetings of the EXCO (joint membership between Ekuinas and management) was institutionalised
  • Increasing Student Numbers

    • Student numbers grew from 6,900 to 9,800 during Ekuinas’ ownership
    • Growth was driven by increased recruitment from the local market as well as penetrating new geographies for the overseas market such as Brazil and Iraq
    • The higher education unit also launched new ‘twinning’ 3+0 programmes. The K-12 unit contributed to student numbers growth by launching an international curriculum wing (in addition to its existing local curriculum wing), growing it’s student numbers from 1,100 to 2,100
    • Ekuinas also instituted a plan to increase bumiputera
      enrolment to 1,000 students
  • Development of New APU Campus

    • Ekuinas assisted APU in acquiring an 11-acre plot in Technology Park Malaysia for the construction of its new campus. Ekuinas assisted in the negotiations for the long-term lease
    • The construction was governed by a tender process put in place with regular reporting by the appointed project manager
  • Key Financial Metrics Over Investment

    • Top line revenue growth of 9.7% CAGR
    • EBITDA growth of 10.6% CAGR
    • Increased EBITDA margin from 37.4% to 39.5%
    • Exit generated returns of 1.46x money multiple or 25.1% IRR