Siguler Guff and CapMan, two international private equity firms, announced last week an investment in Maximum Education, a major Russian provider of educational test preparation services, in exchange for “a significant minority stake.”
Siguler Guff declined to disclose any further details of the transaction, but Maximum Education CEO Michael Magkov told East-West Digital News it was the second round of external funding for his company, which is currently “at growth stage.”
Maximum Education was initially funded by its founding team with the support of early stage investor Nova Capital.
Founded in 2013, Maximum Education provides online and offline test preparation services and operates two learning centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg. It is designed to serve the more than two million Russian students who take exams annually in preparation for high school and university.
The company’s institutional approach to test preparation was developed in response to the Russian government’s country-wide educational reforms, which include mandatory standardized testing for all Russian students planning to enter high school and university.
“The lack of companies offering an institutional approach in response to Russia’s educational reforms creates a significant opportunity for Maximum Education to gain traction and to become the market leader in the Russian test preparation industry,” commented Drew Guff, Managing Director and Founding Partner of Siguler Guff.
“As students pursue graduate degrees and vocational programs, and look to attend school abroad, there is strong potential for the business to expand into other educational segments,” he added.
Maximum Education claims superior exam results and customer satisfaction rate.
Siguler Guff has been active for over 20 years in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union via six private equity funds that invested approximately $1.3 billion of capital commitments and more than 65 investments. The investment in Maximum Education was made via the Russia Partners technology fund.
CapMan is a pioneer in Nordic and Russian private equity. The CapMan Russia II Fund focuses on small to mid-cap Russian growth companies.
