24 ORE Business School
Invested:
December 2017
Exited:
July 2023
Return:
3.9x MoC / IRR 29%
Sector:
Consumer
Stage:
Mid (core strategy)
Headquarters:
Milan, Italy
Business:
Provider of vocational masters programmes
Business at time of investment
24 ORE Business School was a leading player in the tertiary education segment in Italy, providing professionally-oriented education and training. Established in 1991 as a business unit of Il Sole 24 ORE, the school had two headquarters in Milan and Rome and enrolled more than 3,000 students a year onto its courses both in classrooms and online. The Company differentiates itself by creating targeted courses focused on the real needs of business and employs highly experienced industry professionals to originate original content and deliver lessons. Most courses incorporate an internship for the students, which presents a highly successful pathway to employment.
Investment rationale
Palamon’s investment stems from its ongoing thematic work in the education sector to identify businesses that benefit from a structural shift towards private education. Palamon previously invested in Cambridge Education Group, a pathway provider for foreign students to access western universities. Palamon believes that 24 ORE Business School is ideally positioned to address the significant need for specialised vocational training among the Italian youth where unemployment in some regions stands at more than 30%.
Value creation
Appointed digital-first executive team: Recruited high calibre executives; CEO Manuel Mandelli, COO Niccolò Bossi and CFO Cristian Raffini
Executed carve-out: Completed the carve-out from parent company, Il Sole 24 Ore, and created a clear growth plan, with the reinforced team in place to execute it. Completed the acquisition of the remaining 49% of shares in 2019
Digital transformation: Invested substantially in technology infrastructure to create state-of-the-art teaching hubs in Milan and Rome with national reach online. 100% of classes are delivered purely online or as a hybrid of classroom and online classes with students flexibly deciding how they engage with course content
Company at exit
24 ORE Business School was transformed into one of the leading brands in Italy’s tertiary education market, enrolling more than 15,000 students per year onto its highly targeted vocational education programmes. 95% of students who complete full-time courses successfully secure employment. 24 ORE Business School has a best-in-class digital-first management team that accelerated the pivot to e-learning during the early stages of the COVID pandemic and more than doubled the sales of the business within 12 months.
Result
On 27 July 2023, Palamon completed the sale of the business to Digit’Ed, the Italian managerial training hub owned by Nextalia Private Equity Fund. The transaction valued the Company at €200 million and generated a 3.9x return on invested capital and a 29% Gross IRR.