EQT explores $500m exit from Vietnamese English-language schools

EQT invested in ILA in 2017 through its EQT Mid Market Asia III fund, which also backed an education group in China’s Yunnan province among other holdings.

VUS came into the fold through EQT’s 2022 acquisition of Baring Private Equity Asia, which had bought a majority stake in the business in 2019 and was folded into what became EQT Private Capital Asia.

A sale would bring together two assets of differing vintages under a single process.

EQT recently led a consortium that acquired international school chain Nord Anglia Education for a record $14.5bn, and it has returned $5.4bn to investors after an earlier education wager appreciated. Against that backdrop, a Vietnamese exit would represent portfolio management at the smaller end of the scale.

The potential disposal also reflects continued private equity appetite for education businesses across Asia, where demographic tailwinds and a widening middle class support durable demand.