KKR Invests in Vietnam’s Education through EQuest

KKR has made an investment into EQuest Edcation Group, operator of a diversified portfolio across Vietnam’s education sector. EQuest focuses on four core segments: K-12 billigual schools, tertiary and vocational institutions, English enrichment as well as digital learning solutions.

The investment, for which the amount was not disclosed, is made through the KKR Global Impact Fund, and marks the Fund’s fourth investment globally in the educational and workforce development space as part of the Fund’s focus on Lifelong Learning.
The Fund is committed to investing in companies that contribute toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“SDG”).
Chee-Wei Wong, Head of KKR Global Impact for Asia, said: “KKR Global Impact’s thematic around Lifelong Learning focuses on closing the skills gap and creating more equitable access to quality education. EQuest advances these goals: we believe lifelong learning starts at an early age and EQuest is supporting the development of the next generation through its high-quality affordable education programs with strong outcomes.”

EQuest’s K-12 portfolio, “which serves more than 9,000 students across eight campuses, has gained a strong reputation in Vietnam where there is a rapidly growing demand for an affordable bilingual curriculum with strong efficacy.” As a group, EQuest has more than 110,000 students enrolled across its segments each year, making it one of Vietnam’s largest private educational services providers.

KKR has $367 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2021. KKR Global Impact’s portfolio in Asia includes Barghest Building Performance, a Singapore-based provider of energy-saving solutions for commercial and industrial buildings; Ramky Enviro Engineers, a leading provider of environment management services in India; GreenCollar, an environmental markets project developer and investor across the carbon, water quality, bio-diversity and plastics market in Australia; and Five-Star Business Finance, a leading Indian lender to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.