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KUALA LUMPUR (BLOOMBERG) – The owners of the University of Nottingham Malaysia Sdn are weighing a sale that could value the education provider at roughly RM500 million ($ 164.3 million), according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Boustead Holdings, a Malaysian conglomerate with interests in finance, plantations and property, is working with an adviser on the planned sale of its majority stake in the British university campus, the people said. YTL Corp, which also has a stake in the learning institution, can accompany the exit, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private.
Boustead owns about 66 percent of the University of Nottingham Malaysia, while YTL and the University of Nottingham own about 4 percent and 30 percent respectively, according to the people.
The partnership between the three parties was formally announced in 1998 following an invitation from the Malaysian Ministry of Education to establish an overseas campus, according to its website. The Malaysian institution, among the first branches of British universities established outside the UK, welcomed its first students in September 2000.
The University of Nottingham Malaysia has a 125-acre campus in Semenyih, which is about 30 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur, as well as a teaching site in the country’s capital. The educational center, which offers entry-level courses through doctoral degrees, has around 5,000 students from more than 85 different countries.
Deliberations are still early and there is no certainty that Boustead and YTL will proceed with the deal, the people said. YTL Chief Executive Francis Yeoh declined to comment, while representatives for Boustead and the University of Nottingham Malaysia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trading in the education sector in Southeast Asia has gained momentum in recent years, as investors are betting that rising revenues in the region will translate into higher spending on education.
China Maple Leaf Educational Systems acquired the Canadian International School of Singapore for $ 680 million this year, while the International Schools Partnership in 2019 bought Tenby Education Group, which owns seven schools in Malaysia. In 2017, procurement firm EQT Partners invested in the ILA Vietnam English language school.
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