In Spain there are elbows to buy housing, offices, hotels, business … and universities. Private education lives days of wine and roses. Vitaminated by the shortage of public offering and the very high demand in training, this equation has crystallized in a remarkable bubbling in the asset acquisition market linked to education. The growth margin that reflects statistics fattens the investment appetite: private education had 158,186 enrolled in degrees in the 2013-2014 academic year, a figure that this year stood at 300,094 students. Demand grew 89% in ten years. The clearest example of the enormous interest that the education sector awakens is the recent acquisition by the Swedish EQT Capital Capital Manager of the majority of the European University, for 2.2 billion euros, the most expensive operation in this niche in years. Sector sources point out that more active will be on the market in the coming months. Among the pools is the possible sale of a relevant percentage of the International University of La Rioja (UNIR), the largest online education platform. But selling a university is not a matter of an afternoon. There is a complex legal machinery behind the transfer of these societies, where the common is to sell part of the participations through auction processes. Experts point out that these operations can be slightly more complicated than the purchase of a traditional M&A (mergers and acquisitions) because, since it is a regulated sector, there are certain legal formalities. And these can make the way more sinuous. «Regulatory authorizations can delay the deadlines until you close an operation,» says Miriam Pérez-Schafer, corporate partner of the Freshfields corporate, signs with experience in this type of transactions. For example, a bump can be to get the approval of the Autonomous Community, who must authorize the transfer; Another can be potential friction with the competence authorities. However, law firms predict that hunger for educational assets – not only for universities, but also by schools, business schools and online platforms – will not deflate. «It is very likely that interest is maintained for 2025, due to its growth and profitability potential,» Vaticina Andrea Sandi, Uría Menéndez real estate lawyer. The lawyer points out two reasons behind this fury: on the one hand, the potential of the Online University, with an extraordinary capacity to reach great audiences. On the other, the arrival of foreign students. «In general are complex operations, whose analysis and execution are usually prolonged several months,» the lawyer describes. The purchase can take more time – between two and eight months, according to the estimates of the firms interviewed – if the sale is articulated through a competitive process. In this scenario you have to carry out the owner of the business, a study to the millimeter of the asset prior to the purchase to avoid puffs. In these contracts, says Uría's lawyer, it is common for one of the conditions to be negotiated is the continuity of the management team, which is achieved with “economic mechanisms of incentives” to guarantee their “alignment with business objectives”.
Effect called
«When there are operations that are perceived as success in the market, such as the sale of the European University, there is a tendency to seek to repeat them by other investors with assets in the same area,» Miriam Pérez-Schafer agrees, who repairs in the Rumors about an imminent sale of Alfonso X El Sabio University. «It is an attractive sector,» acknowledges the lawyer, «is perceived as an expanding niche, with great ability to benefit from digitalization, susceptible to consolidation and whose anti -cyclical advantage is.» In these operations, usually what is bought It is «the holding company of the educational activity,» explains, for its part, Francisco J. Martínez Maroto, M&A partner of Cuatrecasas. This mercantile is linked elements of vital importance to exercise educational activity such as “relevant regulatory permits and authorizations”; Also material means, such as personnel and real estate assets, which can be owned by the entity or leased. Martínez Maroto coincides in the enormous “attraction for investment” that these assets are raising among investors, and in line with the sector, predicts that the activity will remain. Teresa Zueco, director of the firm Squire Patton Boggs, agrees that The intervention of public administrations can complicate transactions. «It is normal for regional regulations to require that the new holder accredits the ability to maintain quality and viability standards.» However, each region has its own regulations. This implies refining the magnifying glass between requirements and deadlines. «They are usually complex and extensive contracts, due to the number of assets already involved the regulation of the sector,» says Zueco. The expert adds that regulatory conditions are not the only point of study. Lawyers also scrutinize other legal edges, such as the protection of intangible assets, that is, «brands, reputation, agreements with other companies or enrolled students»; Scholarships, agreements and subsidies, or if there are non -profit foundations or entities linked to the center, which introduces «fiscal and structural peculiarities.» A legal puzzle that, in any case, will not intimidate investors, experts agree.
THE PHONE OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
The Government has opted for professional training, where the number of enrolled grew by 32.2% in the last five years. The high demand and low supply equation results in the flowering of private education, with the appetite of the funds. Last summer, the Switzerland firm Jacobs Holding won the pulse to get illerna, one of the leaders of the leaders in Spain, for a price of 400 million. The teachings of FP are taught in 4,022 educational centers, of which 2,650 are public and 1,372, private. Private education already channels the demand of 36% of students who opt for this model.