Brazilian education investor Arco has hired Lobo de Rizzo Advogados to buy local learning solutions provider Escola de Inteligência Cursos Educacionais, in a deal worth at least 288 million reais (US$52 million).

Machado Meyer Advogados advised the founding shareholders of Escola de Inteligência in the sale, which was signed on 28 August.The acquisition is split in two parts; first, Arco is buying a 60% stake in Escola de Inteligência, for which it is paying 288 million reais (US$52 million). Of that amount, Arco will pay 200 million reais (US$36 million) at closing, while it is set to pay the remainder in the second quarter of 2021.

In the other leg of the deal, Arco will buy the remaining 40% in the second quarter of 2023 for an amount that is yet to be determined.

Escola de Inteligência is a leading provider of social-emotional learning (SEL) in Brazil and runs 900 schools, with some 330,000 registered students. SEL focuses on students' development of self-awareness, self-control and interpersonal skills.

Arco raised US$265 million in a secondary equity offering in June, which followed on from its acquisition of Brazilian school content provider Sistema Positivo de Ensino for 1.6 billion Brazilian reais (US$410 million) last year.

Lobo de Rizzo helped Arco in that purchase too, while Machado Meyer advised the seller. Arco serves thousands of schools in Brazil, mainly private primary and secondary institutions, focusing on technology and data-driven learning. The Nasdaq-listed company entered the stock exchange in 2018 after a US$224 million IPO.

Counsel to Arco Educação Lobo de Rizzo Advogados:

  • Partners Rodrigo Millar de Castro Guerra and Rodrigo Roso, and associates Marcela Tavares de Vasconcelos, George de Magalhães Carvalho, Renata de Campos Nogueira and Guilherme Siqueira Calazans de Freitas
Counsel to Escola de Inteligência Cursos Educacionais:


Jornalista: KARLSSON, Fredrik; WEIN, Benjamin

(Latin Lawyer - 09.09.2020)