Curro goes on winter buying spree ahead of Stadio unbundling

Cape Town – Private education group Curro [JSE:COH] has bought its second academic college in just one month, as it gears up to list tertiary learning subsidiary Stadio on the JSE.

Stadio will buy 74% of SBS, which will hold a 51% interest in Southern Business School of Namibia, Curro announced on Thursday.

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

This follows its announcement earlier this month that Stadio has bought AFDA, the leading film school in Africa with four campuses across South Africa.

Curro, which intends to unbundle and list Stadio separately in 2017, has seen its share price drop by 14% in the last three months.

“Curro reaffirms its intention to unbundle and list Stadio separately during the course of this year,” it said on Thursday.

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.

The company, 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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