EQT takes over Universidad Europea: The Advisors

EQT has announced that the EQT Infrastructure VI fund (“EQT”) has agreed to acquire a majority position in Universidad Europea (the “Company”) from Permira, who will retain a significant minority stake in the Company.

The Nordic fund – owner in Spain of Idealista, Parques Reunidos and the image bank Freepic – has agreed to acquire a majority stake in the university campus, in a deal that values the company at around €2.2 billion.

Permira, which acquired Universidad Europea in 2018 from US group Laureate, commissioned the sale of a minority stake to Rothschild at the beginning of the year, with Linklaters in charge of legal affairs. The aim was to capitalise on the company’s growth over the past six years under its leadership and raise around 600 million euros.

Established in 1996, the European University is one of the largest and fastest growing private university networks in Europe, offering high quality undergraduate and postgraduate programmes as well as advanced professional programmes.

In recent years, the University has acquired the Garrigues study centre and the IADE design school. The group currently has 54,000 students, more than 3,400 employees on 12 campuses and offers more than 500 degrees.

The firm, which has campuses in Madrid, Valencia and the Canary Islands, also owns the Real Madrid University School and, internationally, has expanded into Portugal, Ecuador and Colombia. The company closed the 2022 financial year, the last one with audited accounts before the Mercantile Registry, with a profit of around eight million euros, with 280 million euros in revenues, 15% more than in the same period of the previous year.

Otilia de la Fuente, CEO of UE says “As we enter this new chapter, we warmly welcome EQT and are excited to explore the limitless opportunities that await us in this extraordinary company. Joining forces with EQT, together with Permira, allows us to continue our journey of innovation and growth, furthering our mission of changing lives through higher education.

Allen & Overy has advised EQT with a team from various practice areas as Corporate with partner Iñigo del Val (pictured left), senior associate Reka Palla, Andrés Mochales, Cristina Palau, Carlota Roldán, and Reyes Carreira; Banking area with partner Vanessa Cuellas, Maria Ruiz-Gollury Lafita, and Luis Espejo; IP’s associates Lara Ruiz and Teresa Hermosilla; Data Protection’s counsel Laur Badin; Employment with Jose Antonio Segovia, Jaime Lloréns, and Lucía Torquemada; Public Law with senior associate Alvaro Sánchez-Bordona, Leopoldo Reaño, and Clara Iglesias; Tax’s senior associate Juan José Sánchez as well as Real Estate with senior associate Javier González and associate Cristina Astray. EQT was also advised by Deutsche Bank (financial).

Linklaters also advised on the transaction. A team led by partner Carmen Burgos (pictured right), Jose Buigues and Laura Plana (all corporate M&A), with the support of partner Javier García-Pita Ripollés and Álvaro Albiñana (Tax), partner Gabriel Cabello (Real Estate), partner Francisco Sainz-Trápaga Dueñas and Javier Martínez (Banking), counsel Belén Lavandera Palacios (Employment) and managing associate Mario García García (Public Law), has advised Permira on the sale, one of the largest private university groups in Spain.

Clifford Chance has advised the management team of Universidad Europea on the sale of a majority stake in Universidad Europea by Permira to EQT. The team has been led by Private Equity partner Samir Azzouzi together with associate María Aguayo. All tax matters were coordinated by counsel Fernando Escribano.