November 7 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian investment firm Invenio Partners said on Tuesday that it joined forces with Accession Capital Partners to acquire the vocational education division of Serbia's Link Group, with the aim of building a leading provider of IT and business professional education in Southeastern Europe.
The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
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The investment by Invenio and Vienna-based ACP will support the division's geographical expansion and the development of a broader offering of products and programmes to help upskill young professionals and cater to the talent needs of businesses, Invenio said in a press release.
The deal is a "significant milestone" for Invenio and underlines its commitment to fuelling the growth of successful regional endeavours, the firm's partner and chief investment officer Tihomir Dyankov said.
Active for more than 20 years, Belgrade-headquartered Link Group's vocational division boasts over 6,000 students per year in the B2C segment in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Moldova. The group also provides distance learning courses and has schools in Bucharest, Timisoara and Sarajevo, along with offices in Novi Sad, Chisinau and Kyiv. It has certifications from Microsoft, Apple and Adobe, among others.
Last year, private equity and growth equity investor Invenio launched a 55 million euro ($56.7 million) fund targeting acquisitions in Romania and Serbia. Its portfolio includes Bulgarian healthcare data analytics firm SAT Health and local alloy bike frame manufacturing start-up Cycle Gets.
BDK Advokati and Dentons Reczicza Law Firm advised Invenio on the acquisition, while ACP were advised by Schoenherr and Norton Rose Fulbright. KPMG Serbia led the financial and tax analysis, and Deloitte Serbia provided legal, financial and tax advice to Link Group.
($ = 0.9349 euro)