DURBAN - Curro Holdings is spreading its footprint in Gauteng after the private school operator concluded agreements to acquire The King's School Linbro Park and two nursery schools known as Land of Oz for an undisclosed amount.
Curro said although these acquisitions might not be material, they were strategic from a footprint and operational perspective.
However, the group added that both acquisitions were aligned with its intention to expand its footprint in Gauteng and to extend its education offering. Curro has acquired the schools from two different vendors.
“The King's School is a well-known private school situated in Linbro Park, Sandton, that was founded in 1986 by Love Reaching Communities Church, then known as Waverley New Covenant. The King's School provides educational services to learners from Grade 000 (pre-school) to Grade 12, currently comprising of approximately 390 enrolled learners,” the group said.
Curro is planning to develop additional capacity for 900 learners on The King’s School campus.
The group said The King's School acquisition was subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, but none of which were material or likely to impact the implementation of the transaction.
Land of Oz, founded in 1987, are well-known nursery schools and the schools comprise of two campuses, Fourways and Chartwell, and caters for 240 children.
“Curro has plans to further develop the Chartwell campus and to construct a private primary and high school for up to 1300 learners,” the group said.
During the six months to the end of July results presentation, Curro said that it was pushing ahead with its expansion plans, saying it planned to invest R223million in the establishment of four new campuses in the year ahead.
It said the investment would push its expansion and replacement programmes this year to R1 billion.
Nolwandle Mthombeni, an investment analyst at Mergence Investment Managers, said the acquisitions were very small and combined they only added around 630 learners to the 57000 enrolled at Curro.
Curro Holdings is spreading its footprint in Gauteng after the private school operator concluded agreements to acquire The King's School Linbro Park.
“However, Curro will invest capital to increase capacity, which is line with their strategy,” Mthombeni said.
Both acquisitions are uncategorised in terms of the JSE Listings Requirements and the group said the information had been voluntarily disclosed by the company.
Curro Holdings shares gained 0.80percent on the JSE yesterday to close at R16.41.