KKR takes stake in professional training company

Global investment firm KKR & Co LP announced on Tuesday a strategic investment into Tarena International Inc, a Nasdaq-listed provider of professional education services in China.

United States-based KKR and Han Shaoyun, chairman and chief executive officer of Tarena, agreed to purchase an aggregate of $90.5 million worth of ordinary shares from investors who held stakes in the training company before its initial public offering.

These investors are funds managed by affiliates of Goldman Sachs Group Inc and IDG Technology Venture Investments LLC.

KKR will buy 6.8 million ordinary shares, representing an approximately 13 percent stake, while Han will acquire 2 million shares or 3.8 percent.

Han will fund the purchase by issuing a convertible bond to KKR, which will be issued by an entity wholly owned by Han.

The transaction is expected to be completed next month.

KKR's investment will be made through its China Growth Fund. Further details of the transaction were not disclosed.

KKR sees opportunities in China's professional training market, a person close to the deal told China Daily.

According to US-based market research company International Data Corp, China's professional training sector was worth about $12 billion in 2014, and it has grown by a compound average rate of more than 11 percent over the past four years. The person close to the deal said that KKR had invested in Tarena because it was a leader in the sector with good management and its valuation was comparatively low.

Julian Wolhardt, member of KKR, said: "We are very impressed with Tarena's strong track record and its potential for future growth."

Han said: "Tarena's mission is to improve careers and change the lives of our students by delivering high-quality professional education services. We believe that KKR's rich experience in the education sector can help Tarena in its efforts to further strengthen its market leadership and achieve its vision of becoming the world's leading and most innovative professional education service provider."

Founded in 2002, Tarena combines distance instruction, classroom-based tutoring and online learning modules to students in China. It offers part-and full-time courses in 10 information technology subjects and three non-IT subjects.

Wang Lihong, a managing director of Bain Capital Asia, said the firm has been watching the Chinese education sector for a long time and looking for potential investments in professional training, early education, English training and private high schools.

Bain Capital Asia's latest investment is a majority stake in Rise, which offers after-school English language programs for children aged three to 12 years old in China. According to the Asian Venture Capital Journal, the investment was $140 million.

Elaine Wong, a partner and co-founder of Hao Capital, a China-focused private equity firm, said that her firm is taking a close look at the private education market, especially test preparation and early education.

Her company invested in the Beijing-based Universal Education Group last year in partnership with Baidu Inc and California-based Doll Capital Management, but financial terms were not disclosed.