December 03, 2013

Brazil | Business

Pearson buys Brazil's top ELT school for $720m

Pearson continues its global expansion with the acquisition of Brazil's leading adult English language training company.

British media and education group Pearson has agreed to buy Grupo Multi, the largest provider of adult English language training in Brazil, as it invests more in its global education business.

The owner of the Financial Times newspaper will pay 440 million pounds ($720 million) in cash and will take on 65 million pounds of debt from the Martins family and investment firm Kinea.

Pearson Chief Executive John Fallon is reorganising the company to concentrate on fast-growing economies and digital services, rather than Europe and North America, where austerity measures have hit public spending.

Brazil is the fourth-largest English language market in the world, worth 2 billion pounds per year. Demand for English speakers in the tourism and hospitality sectors is expected to rise as the country prepares to host the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.

"Brazilians' appetite for learning English as a global language of business and trade shows every sign of continuing to grow rapidly as Brazil becomes a global player in commerce, travel and a host of other industries," Fallon said in a statement.

Read the full article from Reuters.
Press release from Pearson.

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