Curro buys Africa’s number one film school

Cape Town – Curro subsidiary Stadio has bought AFDA, the leading film school in Africa with four campuses across South Africa.

Curro [JSE:COH] said the 100% acquisition of AFDA shares is subject to certain conditions being met, such as approval from the Competition Tribunal.

Curro, which intends to unbundle and list Stadio separately in 2017, saw its share price dip by 2.16% at close of trade on Wednesday, with a market cap of R17.74bn and a PE ratio of 97.93.

AFDA is a registered higher education institution, with nine accredited programmes, primarily focused on the film, television and live performance industry.

“It is rated as the number one film school in Africa,” Curro said in a statement on Thursday.

Founded by Garth Holmes and Bata Passchier, AFDA grew from six students in 1994 to about 2 000 students in 2017, with campuses in Gauteng, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.

AFDA is in the process of seeking out opportunities to expand its offerings geographically, Curro said.

“This strategy is aligned with Stadio’s strategy of creating further access to tertiary education through the expansion and development of its core brands,” Curro said.

Curro, which aims to have one major acquisition per year, invested R266m in acquisitions in its last financial year. "Acquisitions are carefully considered to ensure that the area still offers growth opportunities and the ethos of the target market is aligned with that of Curro," it said in its 2017 annual financial report.

Curro, which grew headline earnings per share by 55% in the last financial year, plans to invest R2bn in growth and expansion projects going forward.

At the time of its annual report, it had 54 campuses with nearly 50 000 learners.

"At the close of the 2015/2016 financial year we were operating 115 schools on 49 campuses," it said. "This year we invested R571m in the expansion of existing campuses by adding classrooms and cultural and sports amenities, and invested another R763m in the construction of nine new campuses.

"We currently have 127 schools on 54 campuses across the country. If this is how we respond during the tough times, I have no doubt we shall reach our 2020 target."

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