Avigo Capital and Matrix Partners India have put in Rs 100 crore ($18.7 million) in Maharana Infrastructure & Professional Services Pvt Ltd (MIPS), a diversified firm engaged in services related to infrastructure development and consultancy for educational institutions.
As part of the Series B investment, Avigo Capital will invest Rs 80 crore while Matrix Partners India will put in another Rs 20 crore. The funds will be used to offer infrastructure services and facilities management services to educational institutes. VCCircle first reported the transaction on Jan 17.
Mid-market investment bank o3 Capital was the advisor to the transaction.
This is the second round of funding for MIPS. In April 2011, the company received Series A investment of Rs 50 crore from Matrix Partners India. MIPS provides a wide range of services spanning curriculum support, student placements, marketing, HR consulting and infrastructure services to various educational institutions in northern India.
“The company is also targeting to capitalise on vast opportunities in skills development through the emerging PPP (public private partnership) route,†said Shailendra Bhadauria, chairman and managing director of MIPS.
“MIPS is the largest service provider in northern India and currently caters to more than 10,000 students across 16 institutions including a multidisciplinary university in Jaipur. We would like to see it become a national player over the next few years,†said S Harikrishnan, MD of Avigo Capital.
“We continue to believe in India’s education services sector and look to partner with companies having innovative business models,†said Amit Kapoor, MD at Matrix Partners India.
MIPS is part of the group behind Kanpur-based Maharana Pratap Group of Institutions (MPGI), running a string of higher education institutes. The group has 10 campuses in northern India, with presence across the education value chain. It has recently set up Pratap University near Jaipur – a private university offering multiple disciplines and courses.
Education and ancillary services firms have been attracting a lot of interest from PE firms. Recently, in a similar deal, IDFC Alternatives invested Rs 100 crore in Manipal Servicecorp Facility Management Pvt Ltd, which offers housekeeping, catering and related services to hostels run by universities and other institutes.
The education services space witnessed 38 deals worth $142 million in 2012, according to VCCEdge, the data research platform of VCCircle.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)
