Houlihan Lokey Advises Aspire Education

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Aspire Education, a portfolio company of EMZ Partners, has acquired WEKA education, a business division of WEKA Group owned by Paragon Partners. Houlihan Lokey acted as exclusive financial and financing advisor to Aspire Education. The transaction was completed 30 September 2023.

The acquisition of Weka Education marks a transformative milestone for Aspire Education and thus creates a leading educational group with a focus on adult education in the DACH region. The combination enables a significant expansion of the two groups’ offerings, both geographically and in terms of courses, and sets the foundation for leveraging synergies including further optimization of course offerings for participants.

Aspire Education was founded in 2014 and is one of the major private players in the education sector, with activities in the B2P as well as the B2B/B2C market in Austria and Germany. Aspire Education operates more than 80 locations in Austria and Germany and employs approximately 1,200 people. The educational offering includes career guidance and job application coaching, IT training, specialist seminars for experts, and student exchange programs. In recent years, the group has consistently increased its level of digitalization and offers both online and in face-to-face/hybrid educational sessions.

WEKA Education consists of five media and professional education companies with locations in Switzerland and Germany and strong focus on B2B trainings. The companies’ offerings range from one-day seminars and congresses to certified training courses leading to recognized diplomas. All companies are among the leading institutes in their respective target groups and cover education needs in corporate compliance, human resources and other corporate administration functions as well as management and leadership skills.

EMZ is a leading European investment firm, acting as a partner to medium-sized companies. The focus of EMZ’s activities lies on investments alongside founders, family shareholders, and managers. The core of the EMZ philosophy is a significant reinvestment of the management team in order to create an aligned shareholder partnership.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial and financing advisor to Aspire Education in a deal which exemplifies the continued success of Houlihan Lokey’s dedicated coverage of Training & Education as well as capital markets capabilities serving a recurring customer base.