Houlihan Lokey Advises TDR Capital

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that TDR Capital has acquired BPP Education Group (BPP). The transaction closed on 19 July 2021.

BPP is a global leader in professional and vocational education providing training and education in law, business, finance, accountancy, banking, technology, and nursing, both through relationships with corporates and directly to consumers across test preparation, university, apprenticeship, and professional development. BPP has a 45-year track record within the sector, with a leading education brand and established partnerships, providing education for more than 80,000 students each year and training and apprenticeship courses to c. 7,000 businesses.

TDR Capital is a leading private equity firm with over €10 billion of committed capital. It invests in market-leading, European businesses and partners with them to develop and grow their operations. Since its foundation in 2002, TDR Capital has been creating value by applying a high-impact approach to a focused portfolio of companies, including David Lloyd Leisure, EG Group, LeasePlan, and Stonegate Pub Group.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to TDR Capital on its acquisition of BPP. This transaction builds on Houlihan Lokey’s market-leading position in the education and training sector in general and the higher education and professional training market in particular, where the Houlihan Lokey deal team has advised on the disposals of BIMM to ICG. Other recent Houlihan Lokey transactions in the education and training sector include acting for itslearning on its sale to Sanoma Group; Skillsoft on its Chapter 11 restructuring and subsequent sale to Churchill Capital Corp II; Judicium Education on its sale to Supporting Education Group; Oakley Capital on the acquisition of Seagull; AIR Assessment, the student assessment division of the American Institute for Research, on its sale to Cambium Learning Group, Inc.; Cambridge University on its acquisition of the University of Durham’s Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring; Kallidus on its sale to Apse Capital; Inflexion on its acquisitions of Times Higher Education and Calco; Atlas Knowledge on its sale to Mintra Group; THI Investments on the acquisition of Corndel; and Primary Capital on the acquisition of ICS Learn.

Houlihan Lokey was recently announced as Financial Advisor of the Year at the 2020 Education Investor Awards.