Blackstone, Fajr Said Near Deal for Stake in Dubai’s GEMS - Bloomberg

Blackstone, Fajr Said Near Deal for Stake in Dubai’s GEMS - Bloomberg:



"Blackstone Group LP (BX) is close to its first investment in the Middle East as the private-equity firm nears a deal to acquire a minority stake in Dubai’s GEMS Education, three people with knowledge of the matter said.



Blackstone, based in New York, has teamed up with Fajr Capital Ltd. to invest in the world’s biggest privately held schools operator GEMS through its Blackstone Tactical Opportunities unit, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. A formal agreement to buy 20 percent of the company may be reached in the next couple of weeks, two of the people said. The deal may value the stake at about $350 million, they said.



GEMS, which operates more than 100 schools across 14 countries, may sell as much as 25 percent of the company to raise up to $500 million, Chief Operating Officer Dino Sunny Varkey said last year. The company hired Credit Suisse Group AG to help manage the sale, Varkey said. GEMS reported profit of $74.4m for the year ended March 31, in a statement to the Nasdaq Dubai stock exchange in July."



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