South African billionaire Jannie Mouton is purchasing private school giant Curro for roughly R7.2 billion.
Mouton plans to acquire Curro via the Jannie Mouton Foundation, which was established as a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO).
Mouton is a renowned businessman who was central in the creation of Capitec Bank, PSG Group, PSG Financial Services, and Curro.
Curro Holdings Limited is South Africa’s largest independent school network. As per its latest financials, it has 71,749 students.
The trust’s vision is to position Curro as an ever-evolving independent education institution that uses its funds to build more schools, expand facilities and offer bursaries.
The trust is an existing shareholder of Curro at 3.36%, and Mouton has a long-standing history with Curro.
It said there remains a strong demand for quality education across communities in South Africa.
It believes that South Africa has far more opportunities to build and operate more schools and enhance quality educational outcomes.
It believes there are many more opportunities in South Africa to build and operate more schools and enhance quality educational outcomes.
Should the transaction proceed, the Curro business will continue to grow independently, with the current remaining management on board.
Curro will also become a registered PBO.
“At present, Curro demonstrates the evolution of its business model towards sustainably high returns for Shareholders, albeit gradually, given the long-cycle nature of the education sector.”
“ Management adopted an introspective approach to drive higher financial margins and returns rather than to expand Curro’s network during the last few years in a period of anaemic economic growth.”
Although Curro will be a non-profit company (NPC) and PBO going forward, the trust said it will continue operating efficiently and expand.
Curro’s growth will be accelerated via reinvestment of its potential returns/surplus.
This will scale its offering faster and further through new builds, expansions, the acquisition of schools and innovation in education.
The trust seeks to acquire all the Curro Shares with an offer that equates to R13 per Scheme Share.
Following the implementation of the Scheme of Arrangement, the Trust will delist the Curro Shares from the JSE.
The equivalent R13 per Scheme share includes a:
It will be deemed that the value of the Capitec and PSG Financial Services
Shares are R3 649.57 and R23.30, respectively, regarding the prices on 25 August 2025.
The trust said that the scheme consideration represents a premium of 60% to the closing share price of R8.13 on 25 August 2025.
It also marks a premium of 53% to the 30-day volume weighted average share price of R8.52.
The deal equates to about 1.3% of Capitec’s and 3.2% of PSG Financial Services’ issued share capital.
“For the foundation, acquiring Curro represents a game-changing R7.2 billion donation in quality education- quite possibly the largest philanthropic contribution South Africa has ever seen,” said Mouton.
“Over time, this will open the door for thousands more children to attend Curro schools through bursaries, broadening access to excellent education.”
“At the same time, Curro shareholders stand to benefit from a 60% premium on the current market price, ensuring that both education and investors gain from this bold initiative.”
Issued on BusinessTech by Luke Fraser | https://businesstech.co.za/news/wealth/836083/south-african-billionaire-buying-south-african-private-school-giant-for-r7-2-billion/
