Private equity investors are returning to India's school sector after a five-year lull, betting that brick-and-mortar K-12 education offers predictable cash flows, long-term demand and limited disruption from artificial intelligence.
The renewed interest marks a reversal from the pandemic years, when investors shifted capital into fast-growing edtech companies. As investors become more selective about technology investments, physical school chains are once again emerging as a resilient asset class, industry executives told Mint.
“Education is now an attractive asset class for financial investors for three reasons—high cash flows with negative working capital, very high customer life-time value because a student stays with you for 10 to 13 years, and the sector is anti-cyclical with no recession risk, no threat from AI or anything similar. It is a very resilient sector,” said Varun Gupta, managing director and head of SEA, Digital, Technology & Consumer Investment Banking at Avendus Capital.
Over the past six to eight months, Indian school chains seeking to expand have been in talks with private equity firms including ChrysCapital, EQT, Permira, TPG and Partners Group, according to three people aware of the discussions. The firms are evaluating K-12 assets for their strong operating performance and resilient cash flows.
EQT did not respond to Mint's queries, while ChrysCapital, Permira, TPG and Partners Group declined to comment.
The growing interest is expected to translate into several transactions this year. “There are at least three to four large PE or PE-backed platform led transactions that are expected to close this year,” a person in the know told Mint.
Last week, Mint reported that Vibgyor Schools is looking to sell about a 20-30% stake to raise primary capital and has appointed Avendus Capital as banker. Vibgyor and Avendus declined to comment on the Vibgyor deal.
Recent deals underscore the revival. Blackstone bought a majority stake in Jaipur-based Globetrotters Educational Innoventions, the parent of Jayshree Periwal International School in November last year, while KKR subsequently increased its investment in Lighthouse Learning, the school platform it first backed in 2019.
In December, Mint first reported that Kedaara Capital-backed K12 Techno Services, which runs the school chain Orchids The International School had raised fresh funding from Vitruvian Partners.
Last week, Mint confirmed through regulatory filings that early investor Peak XV Partners earned nearly a 12-fold return in Vitruvian's ₹1,159 crore investment. To be sure, Vitruvian last made an investment in Indian education through edtech firm Byju's which was once valued at $22 billion but later collapsed into insolvency proceedings, asset disputes, and severe governance failures.
The deals mark the return of an investment cycle that peaked between 2018 and 2020, when firms including Foundation Holdings, Morgan Stanley PE, Cognita and KKR-backed school platforms. Activity slowed during the pandemic-driven edtech boom before rebounding in 2024, with momentum accelerating this year alongside a pickup in acquisitions by private equity-backed school platforms.
Why schools are back
While AI remains a long-term opportunity, investors say its commercial impact is still evolving, prompting private equity firms with large amounts of dry powder to favour operating businesses built around tangible assets and recurring demand.
Edtech funding, meanwhile, remains well below pandemic highs. The sector attracted about $178 million in funding in the first half of calendar 2026, up from $73.3 million a year earlier, but still a fraction of the roughly $4.1 billion raised in 2021.
Gupta said multi-city school platforms command valuation premiums over standalone schools and smaller chains because of stronger brand recall.
“We know that the teacher and the campus will remain critical to education delivery, even as new AI tools make better learning, and more personalization possible. The core elements of our model are unlikely to fundamentally change,” Prajodh Rajan, co-founder and group CEO, KKR-backed Lighthouse Learning, told Mint.
“In the last 12-18 months, the international K-12 market has been hyperactive in terms of cap table refresh. We are seeing some of that starting to rub off on the India market,” said Nitin Bhatia, managing director at DC Advisory.
EQT-led global investors completed the $14.5 billion acquisition of Nord Anglia Education in March last year. A consortium led by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management acquired majority stake in GEMS Education from CVC in June 2024.
Greater regulatory clarity, including 100% foreign direct investment under the automatic route, wider acceptance of dual-entity operating structures and governance reforms, has further strengthened investor interest, Bhatia said.
Platform play
The renewed appetite for schools is also drawing education companies from adjacent segments.
“Bodhi Tree and Allen are actively exploring setting up high quality schools specifically designed for 21st century educational needs of parents and children, because we think that there is a need for qualitative transformation of early education,” a Bodhi Tree spokesperson said in response to Mint’s queries.
Mint reported in September that Allen Career Institute was expanding into premium International Baccalaureate schools as pressure mounted on its traditional Kota coaching business.
That shift is increasingly playing out through acquisitions rather than new campuses. Last week, The Times of India reported that Gurugram-based Pathways School is being acquired by KKR-backed Lighthouse Learning Group, formerly EuroKids International, for about ₹1,500 crore.
“Regional school chains present deep local trust with significant potential to scale…The opportunity lies in combining that trust with institutional capabilities such as stronger curriculum, teacher development, technology, and child health and safety management, while preserving the school's local identity,” Rajan said.
Blackstone-backed Jayshree Periwal International School and Vitruvian-backed K12 Techno, among others, are also pursuing acquisitions to expand their platforms. Queries sent to Jayshree Periwal International School remained unanswered until press time.
“Globally and domestically, there are platform companies emerging backed by private equity capital and are actively pursuing acquisitions in India,” said Gupta. “While many players are talking about a potential path to an IPO, listing is not the only route to provide exits. There is enough strategic interest and enough private equity interest in owning these assets.”