PE investment in education has slowed globally this year—leaving Europe to take a larger share of deal value amid a series of private-school deals.
In the first three quarters of 2025, $19.3 billion was spent on 294 deals. At the current rate, the year represents a significant slowdown from last year, when PE firms invested more than $40.9 billion across 483 deals.
European deals accounted for $8.5 billion in capital deployed in 127 transactions, followed by North America, which recorded $7 billion across 107 deals. However, Africa and Oceania—comprising Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands—were the only regions worldwide to record an increase from last year, albeit from a much smaller base.
In Africa, PE investors completed eight deals, one more than last year, with total investment rising to $770 million from $210 million. Oceania has had 17 deals, up from 13 last year, with $1 billion invested—an increase from $680 million for 2024.
Two significant deals have driven investment totals in Europe. They included CVC Capital Partners’ $1.4 billion purchase of a 20% stake in International Schools Partnership, a London-based private school operator, which represented a partial exit for Partners Group, and Brightstar Capital’s $1 billion acquisition of UK online education provider Arden University, the year’s second-largest education deal.
Private schools are one of the most important segments in education. Seven of the top 20 PE deals in the space over the last five years involved a private school provider.
In 2024, a Brookfield-led consortium invested $2 billion in Dubai-based private school network operator GEMS Education when it bought a stake from CVC.
Earlier this year, an EQT-led group closed the $14.5 billion sale of Nord Anglia Education to an investor consortium including GIC and the Qatar Investment Authority, returning $5.4 billion. And most recently, Brookfield committed $825 million to Spring Education Group, a US private school operator, to build exposure to resilient, cash-generative businesses.
Featured image by Krisanapong Detraphiphat/Getty Images
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