A&O Shearman advises GEMS Education

A&O Shearman has advised GEMS Education (GEMS) on the investment into GEMS by a consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.

Brookfield invested through its Special Investments and Middle East private equity programs, in a consortium including Gulf Islamic Investments, Marathon Asset Management and SOFAZ, a sovereign wealth fund of Azerbaijan. The existing minority shareholders of GEMS, including Khazanah Nasional Berhad, exited as part of the transaction and funds managed by CVC Capital Partners also substantially exited their stake in the company.

Financing was secured by GEMS from a consortium of UAE banks.

GEMS has grown from a single school started by a family of teachers in 1959 to become the world’s largest provider of private K-12 education by revenue, educating over 140,000 students and providing various international school curricula across multiple price points with adjacent school services.

David Foster, managing partner of META (Middle East, Turkey and Africa), who led the A&O Shearman team, said, “We are delighted to have advised GEMS on this strategic transaction, which underscores the continued appetite from blue-chip investors for quality assets in the region”.