A trust formed by Capitec Bank co-founder and well known South African entrepreneur Jannie Mouton has made an offer to acquire Curro Holdings.
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Capitec and PSG founder Jannie Mouton has made a R7.2 billion offer to buy out all shares in Curro Holdings, with plans to delist the private school group and convert it into a non-profit education organisation.
The offer, made through the Jannie Mouton Stigting, aims to use Curro as a platform to expand quality education and could provide more bursaries across South Africa.
According to reports, the announcement saw Curro's share price rocket 53.68% to R12.31.
Curro is South Africa’s largest private school group, and is reported to be educating over 71,000 learners across its national network of independent schools.
According to the firm announcement, the proposed offer includes a significant premium to Curro’s recent share price and remains subject to regulatory approvals and shareholder consent.
“Curro’s ability to maintain its earnings and generate more cash despite lower learner numbers demonstrates its robust financial discipline. In South Africa's education sector, private schools are experiencing increased demand from parents seeking alternatives to public education, while economic pressures impact family budgets". CEO Cobus Loubser said.
The Mouton Stigting trust said that the intention of the "trust is to contribute positively to South Africa by facilitating enhanced accessibility to quality education and to expand education outside the city boundaries to more remote areas in time".
"The Trust has identified Curro as the ideal vehicle through which to achieve these objectives, given that it is already a reputable business and has a strong and forward-thinking management team".
"Curro is a meaningful force for good and a lighthouse of academic excellence in South Africa, and the Trust is confident that it will scale that force for social good even further. The Curro group currently has approximately 85% black students".
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