Oct 19 2020

AnaCap enters Indian market in joint venture with Cerestra through first education infrastructure asset purchase

AnaCap Financial Partners (“AnaCap”), a leading specialist mid-market private equity investor, today announces its first investment in India following the acquisition of three K-12 school and student housing assets from the Jain Group of Institutions (JGI Group), an established and well-renowned operator of K-12 to Higher Education institutions, providing education to ~65,000 students.

In doing so, AnaCap is also delighted to announce a joint venture with Cerestra Advisors (“Cerestra”), a pioneer and specialist investor in Indian education assets. The firms have been working together for more than 18 months with the aim to help support the growing education system in India through investment.

With an estimated demographic growth rate of 1.3%, India is expected to become the world’s most populous country by the end of 2024, with the Higher Education sector expected to see an additional ~500 million people in the education-seeking population. India’s Higher Education system is already the third largest in the world, and the government’s vision is to increase the enrolment rate from the current 27% to 50% by 2030 .

AnaCap will work with Cerestra to focus primarily on K-12 schools and student housing, which are some of the fastest growing segments in the education sector. AnaCap sees scope to develop this investment strategy into a dedicated education infrastructure investment trust, a first of its kind to be listed in India with a yield profile attractive for institutional investors globally.

AnaCap has been present in India for several years now having built out AnaCap Global Services since 2017, with 40 data and system analysts based in Noida, New Delhi supporting the broader AnaCap platform globally, and now a dedicated team of 3 investment professionals based in Mumbai. These local resources enable AnaCap to execute on attractive investment opportunities, working with Cerestra as their partner on education assets.

Rakesh Balasundaram, Investment Director at AnaCap in Mumbai, commented: “We are very excited to enter the Indian market by working with Cerestra as a highly-respected operating and origination partner, as we seek to make further educational infrastructure asset acquisitions ahead of a possible vehicle listing.”

He continued: “Despite the global economic threat of Covid-19, AnaCap remained active during the summer months, with this deal showing our commitment to exploring new and emerging markets for our investor base. We look forward to continuing to build upon AnaCap’s successful credit and real estate investment track record by implementing our strategy in India.”

Vishal Goel, Co-Founder & Partner at Cerestra, stated: “This partnership brings to fruition our search for a global partner to institutionalize the Edu-Infra space in India which we have been building over the past 5 years. With a team based in India, AnaCap has demonstrated its long-term commitment to the Indian market and in the process ensured that we have the capital, speed and understanding to address the market effectively and comprehensively in a time bound manner.”

Jasmeet Chhabra, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Cerestra, also commented: “This partnership will herald a new era in providing the necessary investor attention and acceptance to core assets across education and life sciences verticals, the two areas where Cerestra has been focusing to address the capital needs of the local industry.”