Horizon Education Asia Limited (HEAL), the Southeast Asian subsidiary of educational asset management company Al Najah Education, has announced its acquisition of a significant stake in Malaysia-based Regent International Schools.

The deal is a significant coup for Al Najah Education, which currently owns and operates 31 pre-schools and training centres in Singapore through HEAL, and four schools in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Al Najah Education is a private equity investment company advised by Regulus Capital Limited and Regulus Advisors Pte Ltd. It has a mandate to invest in the education sector across Mena and Southeast Asia, with HEAL being the subsidiary through which all Southeast Asian investments are made.

Raza Khan, CEO of Al Najah Education, said: “This marks HEAL’s first investment into Malaysia, and aligns with efforts to complement its education portfolio in Singapore. HEAL plans to continue investing and expanding through the entire Southeast Asian region, further growing the Al Najah Education portfolio on a global scale.”

Farid Rosli, managing director of Regulus Advisors Pte Ltd. commented:  "On behalf of HEAL, we are proud to announce our acquisition of Regent International Schools. This acquisition boosts HEAL’s presence in the market, in particular within the K-12 International School segment, and demonstrates HEAL's growth ambitions for provision of private education in Southeast Asia.  We will continue our efforts to offer quality early childhood education, enrichment, and children and adult training institutions.”

With five school campuses spanning Klang, Puching, Sungei Petani and Kuantan, Regent International Schools form part of an established private school group offering the IGCSE curriculum in Malaysia. According to Khan, the choice of investment into the Regent International Schools was the “perfect fit” as Al Najah Education prides itself on offering quality education at an affordable rate.

Dato Nelson Renganathan, CEO of Regent International School stated: “We look forward to the opportunities for Regent International School as a result of this formidable partnership. HEAL and its parent entity, Al Najah Education are both established private education providers in the Middle East and South East Asia, and we foresee that the partnership will bring Regent International Schools closer to its vision of becoming the preferred international schools in Malaysia.”

“We envisage at least two additional schools to be launched in the next 24 months, spearheaded by the combined expertise of our own assets as well as those of HEAL,” concluded Renganathan. – TradeArabia News Service