The sports category has moved to a new website.

Dubai company forks out $260 million to buy Kenya’s Hillcrest International Schools

Hillcrest International School
  • Private equity firm Fanisi Capital has already signed the agreement to sell the International School and the deal is awaiting the necessary approval.
  • In 2011, Fanisi Capital teamed up with businessman Anthony Wahome to buy Hillcrest which was facing bankruptcy then.
  • Education is a lucrative business in Kenya and the country hosts some of the most expensive international schools in Africa.

Kenya’s Hillcrest International Schools, founded in 1965, has a new owner.

Dubai-based GEMS Education has bought the school for Sh2.6 billion ($260 million), marking the latest deal in the high-end private education industry in Kenya.

Private equity firm Fanisi Capital has already signed the agreement to sell the International School and the deal is awaiting the necessary approval.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Hillcrest is being sold to GEMS for Sh2.6 billion. The transaction is awaiting approval of regulators,” a source familiar with the transaction told the Business Daily.

In 2011, Fanisi Capital teamed up with businessman Anthony Wahome to buy Hillcrest which was facing bankruptcy then. The two forked out a total of Sh1.8 billion ($18 million) to pay Barclays Bank of Kenya, the family of Kenneth Matiba and other creditors.

This means that once the buyout has been finalized Fanisi and Mr. Wahome are set to walk away with a profit of at least Sh800 million from their seven-year investment.

This latest buyout deal follows another high-end buyout deal in 2015 after a consortium led by Private equity firm AfricInvest sold Brookhouse School to UK-based private equity fund Educas for a record Sh3.6 billion ($36 million), making it one of the biggest transactions in Kenya’s high-end education sector.

ADVERTISEMENT

GEMS Education hopes to leverage on the buyout of Hillcrest to expand its footprint in the Kenyan market, adding to its already established GEMS Cambridge International School based in Nairobi.

The country has a chain of international schools which offer international curriculum like the British education system and charge up to $25,988 (Sh2.7 million) per year, rivalling more advanced metropolis like Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur, Copenhagen and Cape town whose fees are nearly a third of what Kenyan schools charge.

The cost of educating a child below 10 years in Nairobi’s top private schools is $10,500 (Sh1 million) a year on average, according to the International Schools Database Survey states (ISDS).

ADVERTISEMENT

International School of Kenya (ISK) is the most expensive school in the country and continent at large, charging a whooping $25,988 per child.

Hillcrest International School, founded in 1965, follows closely and charges $13,475.48 annually per child.

GEMS Cambridge charges $13,475 a year per child while Brook house and Braeburn charges $13,475 and $12,513 respectively.

ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: news@pulselive.co.ke

Recommended articles

10 African cities with the highest crime index at the start of 2024

10 African cities with the highest crime index at the start of 2024

Machoka at 70: Emotions run high during Citizen TV presenter's birthday [Video]

Machoka at 70: Emotions run high during Citizen TV presenter's birthday [Video]

Diwali 2022: Is Monday a public holiday in Kenya?

Diwali 2022: Is Monday a public holiday in Kenya?

Akothee finally reveals reasons for separating from Omosh 1 month after wedding

Akothee finally reveals reasons for separating from Omosh 1 month after wedding

Man, once a ‘billionaire’, recounts how he lost wealth, now sells his book on streets [Video]

Man, once a ‘billionaire’, recounts how he lost wealth, now sells his book on streets [Video]

Details of Ngina Kenyatta's luxurious restaurant

Details of Ngina Kenyatta's luxurious restaurant

Zero Chills! Jackie Matubia's advice for Milly Chebby amid the unfollow drama

Zero Chills! Jackie Matubia's advice for Milly Chebby amid the unfollow drama

Nigerian royal dignitaries, including four kings and a queen, expected to attend Museveni’s 50th wedding anniversary celebrations

Nigerian royal dignitaries, including four kings and a queen, expected to attend Museveni’s 50th wedding anniversary celebrations

10 African countries with the strongest military power in 2024

10 African countries with the strongest military power in 2024

ADVERTISEMENT