MAPLE BEAR CEE PARTNERS WITH VANTAGE CAPITAL IN A €100 MILLION INVESTMENT PROGRAM

Four years after entering Central & Eastern Europe, Maple Bear, the largest and fastest growing franchise of K-12 bilingual schools in the world, is partnering with Vantage Capital in a €100 million investment program for the region.

The Vantage investment program in Maple Bear Central & Eastern Europe has four components:

-???????An equity investment into the Regional head office to fund the recruitment of up to 70 additional team members who will strengthen the quality of the education support offered to Maple Bear School owners, teachers, and children, and help accelerate the expansion of the school network across the region,

-???????The capitalization of Maple Bear Polska which plans, with the help of its local Polish shareholders, to open more than 40 schools,

-???????The capitalization of Maple Bear Czech Republic which will target more than 20 schools, and,

-???????A real estate funding program to enable Maple Bear school owners to build large, flagship K12 schools in prime locations.

The partnership with VANTAGE will accelerate the deployment of the Maple Bear schools and kindergartens in the region, attracting serious investors in the franchised Maple Bear school network.

“There is increasing demand in the region for bilingual education which our schools are ideally placed to satisfy. Our franchise concept is proven with successful launches in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and soon Albania. Now, our partnership with Vantage Capital gives us the financial firepower to achieve our ambitious growth targets: to build a school network of over 200 schools in the region.” says Yann Bidan, General Manager for Maple Bear CEE.

Maple Bear is a premium brand and offers full Canadian bilingual teaching methodologies and strategies, utilizing Canadian and local curriculums in full conformity with local education regulations. There are currently more than 570 Maple Bear Early Childhood, Elementary and High School franchises in more than 30 countries.

“Maple Bear offers the best of Canadian education for a global future, and it is the world leader in the provision of bilingual education. It instills critical thinking skills in students that will ensure their success in a rapidly changing world,” states Maple Bear Global Schools Founder and Chairman, Rodney Briggs. “We provide unparalleled support to our schools through a proprietary curriculum developed by Canadian and local educators and through the support provided by the almost 300 Canadian faculty who train and support our Maple Bear teachers around the globe.”

?“Collaboration and cooperation are cornerstones of the Maple Bear philosophy. Our goal is to have beneficial partnerships” states Arno Krug, Maple Bear Global Schools CEO, “and we are delighted to form this new partnership with Vantage Capital who share our philosophy. We look forward to the rapid expansion of Maple Bear in Central and Eastern Europe to provide families with the opportunity to enjoy a world class education at a reasonable price.”

?In Central & Eastern Europe, Maple Bear has currently 10 schools, operational or in implementation in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, and Ukraine and is planning an additional 200 new schools in 22 countries over the next decade, thanks to its partnership with Vantage Capital.

“We decided two years ago to focus on the opportunities in the education sector with our new division called Vantage Best in Class. We are delighted that our plans have lived up to the name. The partnership with Maple Bear is indeed ‘Best in Class’ and together we will undoubtedly become the leaders in premium bilingual education in a region of over 250 million people” said Luc Albinski, Executive Chairman of Vantage Capital.

About Vantage Capital

Vantage Capital is an alternatives asset manager headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with over $1.2 billion of assets under management. It employs twenty-five staff based in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Cairo, Dubai, Paris, and Sofia. ?Vantage Best in Class, the newest division within Vantage, funded by European families and entrepreneurs, seeks to invest in Education and EdTech companies in Europe. Vantage has teamed up with Melvyn Lubega, the co-founder of Go1, one of the largest curated eLearning library in the world and an education unicorn that recently raised $100m from Softbank, Salesforce, and Microsoft amongst other investors at over a $2 billion valuation, to invest in Maple Bear Polska. The other two divisions are Vantage Mezzanine which has provided mezzanine debt and equity funding solutions to thirty-three companies across eleven countries and Vantage GreenX which has funded 14 solar and wind projects with a combined capacity of over 1,000 MW and for a value of approximately $800m.?