IslamicFinance.de

The investor group has acquired a significant minority stake in Gems Education’s emerging markets business, covering the Middle East, North Africa and East Asia.
Mumtalakat Holding Company, the investment arm of Bahrain, and Tactical Opportunities funds managed by Blackstone are the other partners in the investment consortium. Gems Education, a UAE-grown global brand that was founded 54 years ago, and is now the world’s largest provider of K-12 private education — operating more than 50 schools, educating over 140,000 students and employing over 13,000 people across 19 markets in the Middle East, North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Dubai-based GEMS Education has set initial pricing thoughts of an 11.75-12.00 per cent profit rate for its planned debut sale of hybrid Islamic bonds. The company, which employs about 11,000 staff and operates around 100 private schools across the Gulf region, has hired Morgan Stanley Inc, Credit Suisse and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) to arrange the sale. The sukuk sale will use a mudaraba structure and will be callable after five years. No details on the planned size of the offering was provided.