Stadio adds stake in business school
Stadio Holdings, the soon-to-be-listed tertiary education subsidiary of private school specialist Curro Holdings, has made its second acquisition in June.
On Thursday, Curro announced that Stadio had acquired a 74% stake in Southern Business School (SBS). It did not disclose the amount.
While SBS operates in SA, the company holds a 51% interest in SBS Namibia.
The deal follows hard on the heels of the acquisition of the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance earlier in June.
SBS extends Stadio’s African footprint after a 50% stake was acquired in Botswana’s BA Isago University late in 2016.
SBS is a South African-registered higher education institution, with SBS Namibia being recognised by the Namibian qualification authority. It has 11 accredited distance learning programmes ranging from higher certificates to master’s degrees.
There are three academic schools offering dedicated programmes, as well as short courses via the School of Business and Economics, the School of Safety in Society and the School of Law.
There are almost 10,000 students enrolled in SA and in Namibia.
Stadio appears to be following a similar tertiary expansion model to JSE-listed rival Advtech, which owns Varsity College and Rosebank College, along with offerings in niches such as culinary skills, advertising and marketing, graphic design and business.
Curro founder and Stadio CEO designate Chris van der Merwe has indicated that acquisitions would have the flexibility to expand their respective brands into other tertiary offerings.
Curro is one of the fastestgrowing companies on the JSE, and has rolled out and acquired about 130 private schools since listing in 2011.
Van der Merwe said SBS would look for growth opportunities by introducing new programmes, as well as increasing the company’s presence and reach geographically.
“This strategy is aligned with Stadio’s strategy of creating further access to tertiary education through the expansion and development of its core brands,” Van der Merwe said.