TDR Capital invests in BPP

Submitted 24/03/2021 - 2:59pm

BPP, a global specialist in professional and vocational education, has welcomed a new investor, TDR Capital (“TDR”), a UK-based private equity firm. 

The sale of the business to TDR will facilitate investment and support BPP’s strategy of providing more students and partners with access to a leading portfolio of professional courses, apprenticeships and vocational university degrees. 

Since 2009, BPP has been part of Vanta Education, a global education network ultimately owned by funds managed by Apollo Global Management and The Vistria Group. TDR is acquiring BPP from Vanta Education. 

Following this transaction, BPP will be run as a standalone company under the existing management team and remain headquartered in London. BPP will retain the strong governance structures which have helped establish its reputation for academic excellence and will maintain its focus on the wellbeing of its students as part of its broader responsibilities as a leading education provider. 

BPP has a 45-year track record within the sector, with a leading education brand and established partnerships, providing education for more than 80,000 students each year and training and apprenticeship courses to c7,000 businesses. 

BPP believes that this partnership will provide valuable financial and operational resources to support the delivery of management’s growth strategy and drive long-term benefits for its key stakeholders including colleagues, partners, and students. 

TDR’s support and long-term commitment will allow BPP to further invest in improving quality, customer experience and satisfaction, bring in cutting edge data science and digital capabilities and continue on its growth trajectory, expanding its offering to serve the growing demands of students and companies globally for specialist skills and training. 

As part of this strategy, BPP looks forward to supporting the Government’s efforts to support training and apprenticeship opportunities for young people, and more broadly equip people and companies with skills needed for the future. 

BPP is committed to continuing to offer the broadest and highest quality education to current and future students, all of which is closely aligned to the needs of the industries that BPP has successfully served for over 45 years. 

Graham Gaddes, BPP CEO, comments: “This is a significant vote of confidence not only in our business and our management team, but also its strategy and the long-term future of UK higher education and professional training. 

“TDR are long-term investors with a strong track record of supporting management teams and investing in businesses to achieve growth. We believe they will prove excellent partners for BPP and we are hugely excited by the opportunity to continue building on our successes and achievements across the whole business, helping thousands of professionals and employers achieve their respective goals, as we continue ‘Building Careers Through Education’”. 

Jon Rosen at TDR says: “We are excited to work with Graham and his team and support the excellent work they are doing. We believe there are compelling opportunities to build on their strengths in the face of growing demand for high-quality education courses and training programmes. 

“We have a history of supporting the successful growth of leading businesses across a number of different sectors, combining ambitious growth plans and strategic focus with targeted investment. This is an exciting time to be investing in education, an important sector for the UK and globally, as the need for highly skilled workers continually increases.” 

Larry Berg, Senior Partner at Apollo Global Management, says: “On behalf of the ownership group, we are pleased that BPP will have a strong, local partner in TDR Capital that will continue to support and invest in the school and its students. We know the company will be in great hands with its new owners.” 

“We would like to thank the leadership, employees and faculty of BPP and Vanta Education for their tireless dedication in building a highly differentiated and innovative education platform,” adds Theodore Kwon, Partner at Apollo Global Management. 

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