Stadio in agreement to buy land worth R110m in Centurion for new private university

Private higher education investment company Stadio has entered into an agreement to buy 5.2 ha of land for R110m in Centurion to build a 4 000-person "multiversity" which it hopes will open in 2021.

In an update to shareholders on Tuesday, the JSE-listed group said the purchase is subject to confirmation that the two erven (of 2.5 ha and 2.7 ha) have been successfully rezoned to a "place of instruction". 

The group, which runs a number of smaller tertiary education institutions such as film and performing arts school AFDA, is betting that private higher education in SA has plenty of room to grow. It previously said that only 15% of tertiary students in SA attend private institutions, far below the international average of around 35%.

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Stadio hopes to have three comprehensive private universities up and running by 2026, and a total of 100 000 students across all its institutions. 

In 2018, it purchased 7.8 ha of vacant land in Durbanville, Cape Town, for a university which it hopes will attract between 4000 and 5000 students.