AD Education welcomes Cathay Capital and Bpifrance to accelerate its international growth and develop its digital offer
May 4, 2020
Europe
AD Education opens its capital to two new shareholders to accelerate its internationalization and educative innovation strategy, especially in the digital area, and strengthen its institutional rooting. With this operation, AD Education confirms its ambition to become a major international Group and a leader of training in professions related to creation. As taking a minority share alongside Kevin Guenegan, President and majority shareholder, Cathay Capital Private Equity and Bpifrance offer their operative and financial supports, which are complementary assets to the development of the Group. These new investments will allow the Group to spread the French savoir-faire on an international level with the opening of new campuses in Europe and by attracting more international students, especially coming from China and the United States.
Created by its parents in 1990 and made of 3 campuses then, Kevin Guenegan took over the Ecoles de Condé in 2009 with Guilhem Ricci. These higher education institutions, specialized in design and art professions disciplines, stand at the root of AD Education’s network. The opening of new campuses and the acquisition of schools specialized in complementary areas (for example the IAAD, the ESP, the EAC, etc.) gave birth to the French leader of higher education in art professions, design, culture and communications. With the relevance of its strategic positioning and the coherence of the trainings developed, the Group has enjoyed a regular growth over the past eight years. The AD Education Group, which has 5.000+ students spread in 7 institutions and 11 campuses including one in Italy, recorded a turnover of € +35m.
With the active supports of Cathay Capital and Bpifrance, AD Education intends to accelerate the internationalization of its course offer and the development of its digital offer while ensuring the coherence of its strategy and contents with the long-term objective to become the European leader of higher education in creation professions. AD Education’s strategic plan relies on the development of new campuses and courses, such as the Ecole Supérieure du Digital or the Ecole Supérieure du Parfum, as well as on the selective acquisition of new institutions specialized in training in creative professions in France and abroad. As a leader, AD Education is able to seize the opportunities offered by a rapidly changing sector, whose growth and innovation dynamic are key factors to the development of the Group.
Kevin Guenegan, CEO of AD Education, declared: “We are very pleased to welcome Cathay Capital and Bpifrance which share both our vision of higher education and our values. Our shared objective is to offer our institutions’ students high-quality trainings related to creation. To do so, we intend to continue the ambitious development started in 2009 and relying on educational innovation, digital transformation and international development.”
Mingpo Cai, President of Cathay Capital Private Equity, added: “The family history, the entrepreneurial spirit and the Group’s focus on excellent French savoir-faire convinced us of AD Education’s strong potential in Europe but also on an international level. Especially in China and in the United States, where we will support the Group’s developments.”
José Gonzalo, Executive Director Mid & Large Cap at Bpifrance, continued: “Private higher education is a key sector to Bpifrance, whose ambition is to play an active role in the emergence of French leaders recognized for their academic excellences in Europe. That’s why we are proud to support AD Education which imposed itself as a leader of high trainings in design, creation and art professions, which are emblematic disciplines of the French savoir-faire with a great future.”
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