Global premium schools group Inspired has acquired Alpha Plus Group Schools, which features prestigious UK brands Wetherby School and Pembridge Hall among its portfolio.
The 17 private schools catering to some 3,300 students in the UK will join the parent organisation that educates over 75,000 students at 80+ schools on six continents.
At the start of the 2022/23 academic year, Alpha Plus enrolled 3,335 school and nursery students.
The latest transaction does not include the acquisition of the three colleges, which enrolled close to 1,000 students at the beginning of this academic year.
The move will support Inspired’s strategic ambitions to “continue building the world’s leading group of premium schools”, the company said.
“The best schools in the world join Inspired, and we are proud to welcome the Alpha Plus Group’s schools, including some of the leading London schools such as Wetherby School and Pembridge Hall School, to the group,” Nadim M Nsouli, founder, chairman and CEO of Inspired, said.
Alpha Plus schools will benefit from “the additional support of a global group of world-leading educational experts”, in addition to access to Inspired’s “global best practices in teaching and learning”.
“[That will] ensure students will receive opportunities specifically designed to transform and broaden their horizons, giving them a deepened appreciation of their fellow global citizens, magnifying and informing their aspirations, and preparing them for a successful academic and working life in an evolving, global world,” Nsouli added.
“Inspired is a group which has a long-term outlook for both our schools and their local communities,” Mark Hanley Browne, CEO of Alpha Plus Group, said.
“For the staff, there will be the opportunity to work in schools abroad, using the Inspired group”
“For the staff, there will be the opportunity to work in schools abroad, using the Inspired group. There will be opportunities to see best practice, for example in the teaching of science and mathematics at prep school and secondary school level. For pupils there will be opportunities to take part in exchange visits with schools abroad.”
In 2022, Alpha Plus saw its revenue jump by 12% to £114.3 million from £102m the year previous.
Adjusted EBITDA for the year was £30.1m, up from £20.8 in 2021, which the company’s financial records said was down to “higher pupil and student numbers and the recovery of boarding demand at the Company’s colleges”.
The 17 schools acquired includes Wetherby Arts School, a new co-educational senior school set to open in 2025 in West London.
Macquarie Capital acted as financial advisor to Delancey and Alpha Plus Group.
