BLACKSTONE is nearing a deal to buy some of Dulwich College International’s Asian assets for about US$600 million, according to sources with knowledge of the matter, underscoring the continued appetite of buyout firms in the education sector.

The deal will include acquiring the schools in Singapore and South Korea from Education in Motion, the sources said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. It does not plan to include the ones in China, they said.

Terms and a final valuation are still being worked out and could change, though negotiations are at an advanced stage, the sources said. The founders and management of Education in Motion will remain actively involved if the deal closes, they said.

Blackstone declined to comment. A spokesperson for Singapore-based Education in Motion said the firm had no comments.

Top British schools have rapidly expanded overseas, particularly in China and Hong Kong, though headwinds there have pushed many to explore other Asian markets. Dulwich, founded in the UK more than 400 years ago, established its first international school in Shanghai in 2003. It opened in Seoul in 2010 and Singapore in 2014.

British schools typically franchise their brands, and often expertise, to an overseas education provider such as Education in Motion for a fee.

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If the acquisition goes through, Blackstone plans to open a Dulwich school in the Middle East to tap the growing number of professionals heading to the region, the sources said. It may also explore opening in India, Thailand and other South-east Asian countries, one of the sources said.

This would not be the first education-related deal for New York-based Blackstone. In 2019, the alternative-asset investment firm was part of a consortium that sold a stake in Dubai-based school operator Gems Education.

Dulwich College in Singapore has almost 3,000 students and the school in Seoul has 650 children from the ages of two to 18, according to its website. International schools such as Dulwich command large premiums, drawing mostly expatriates and wealthy locals. Annual fees can run up to more than S$54,000 at the Singapore school and as much as 39.6 million won (S$39,144) at the Seoul campus, according to their websites.

Education in Motion, founded by Fraser White and Karen Yung, also has UK-based Sherfield School and the Green School among its portfolio of schools and brands, according to its website. BLOOMBERG