The test preparation space continues to be the favourite theme in education. Milestone Religare Investment Advisors Pvt Ltd (MRIA), the joint venture company between Milestone Capital and Religare Enterprises, has invested Rs 60 crore in Resonance Eduventures Pvt Ltd (REPL), a coaching centre for entrance examinations. Resonance Eduventures, based in Kota, offers coaching for IIT-JEE and other engineering entrances.
The investment has been made from its India Build-Out Fund 1, a Rs 600-crore private equity fund backed by Religare Enterprises and Milestone Capital. This is the fourth investment of the fund so far.
Speaking to VCCircle, Rajesh Singhal, managing partner, Milestone Religare Investment Advisors, says that the team is very active in finding right options and there are a number of prospective deals in the pipeline at various states of development. He adds that the firm is expecting to deploy the entire fund in the next 6-9 months. Singhal, however, did not divulge details about the future deals and the quantum of stake the fund has picked up in Resonance.
Resonance currently has 20,000 classroom students and another 8,000 distance education enrolments. It has been operational for the last nine years and is claimed to be one of the leading players in test preparation space. Swastika Investmart Ltd and ICICI Bank have acted as advisors for the transaction.
Singhal further says, “Education is a high growth and relatively recession-proof sector, which is rapidly evolving. We are extremely excited to be partners in the future growth of Resonance, which has a significant nationwide presence.”
Milestone Religare focuses investments on education & healthcare. The Fund has already made four investments, two each in education and healthcare verticals. Its portfolio investments include Healthcare Global Enterprises (HCG), a Bangalore-based chain of oncology super-specialty hospitals; Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), a Hyderabad-based multispecialty hospital and IMS Learning Resources, a test preparation company for MBA aspirants.
RK Verma, chairman and MD, REPL, said, in the statement, “The fund will help us to reach the higher echelons in formal and parallel education space, a move forward to our vision of ‘Excellence in Career Education’.”
