Deals

Carlyle invests $50m in Beijing school

The Washington DC-based private equity giant has invested in China’s education sector, in a week that has also seen the firm close its Warsaw office and Sydney-based Asian leveraged finance group.

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Carlyle Group has invested $50 million in Hao Yue Education Group, a Chinese higher education facility.

The deal is part of a Chinese government initiative to provide new capital for Chinese schools.

The investment came from the $680 million Asia Growth Capital Fund III, one of 66 funds managed by Carlyle.
 
Hao Yue higher education school has two campuses in Beijing, with a student population of more than 30,000 and nearly 30 secondary colleges and schools.

“We are attracted by the resilient nature of the sector, which has the proven potential to grow even in a challenging economic climate,” Wayne Tsou, a Carlyle managing director, said in a statement

Hao Yue is Carlyle’s second investment in the Chinese education sector. In October 2007 Carlyle committed $20 million to fund Japanese language institute NeWorld Education Group’s expansion into China.

So far in 2008 Carlyle’s Asia group has invested $200 million of equity capital into existing portfolios and three new companies.

The transaction follows the announced closure of Carlyle’s Warsaw office and Sydney based Asian leveraged finance group earlier this week.