The private equity arm of Avendus Capital has picked up 1.21 per cent stake in K-12 tutoring and test preparation firm MT Educare Ltd (MTEL) from the markets. Avendus India Opportunities Fund III, advised by Avendus PE Investment Advisors, acquired the stake for Rs 4.69 crore on Monday. Avendus picked up 4.84 lakh shares at Rs 97 per unit.
MT Educare shares were trading at Rs 97.5 a piece on the BSE at 2:49 pm on Tuesday, down 3.56 per cent. The company has a market capitalisation of Rs 388.05 crore.
In the past, Avendus invested in companies such as electrical goods maker V-Guard Industries, agrochemicals player Dhanuka Agritech and stationery products maker Camlin. The firm manages three funds focused on PIPE (private investment in public equity) deals in small-cap and mid-cap companies.
MT Educare raised private equity funding in 2007 from Helix Investments, which part-exited with 2.5x returns when the firm went public in March 2012. Academic and value investor Shivanand Mankekar also holds nearly 5 per cent stake in the company.
Established in 1988, MT Educare is a coaching services provider and focuses on science and commerce streams across Maharashtra and other states including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat. It offers coaching for national level examinations such as JEE Mains/Advanced for engineering, NEET for medical, CPT/IPCC/CA final for commerce and CAT/CMAT for MBA aspirants.
MT Educare has 200 coaching centres across 125-plus locations in three states, with faculty strength of over 1,000 teachers.
In November 2012, MTEL bought 51 per cent stake in Lakshya Forum for Competitions Pvt Ltd, a northern India-based IIT, engineering and medical entrance teaching institution, for an undisclosed amount.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)
