Oakley Capital, a leading pan-European private equity investor, is pleased to announce that Oakley Capital Fund III (‘Fund III’) has agreed to sell its majority stake in Schülerhilfe to Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (“LLCP”). The completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
Schülerhilfe is the leading provider of professional tutoring services to primary and secondary school students across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with over 140,000 students across c.1,200 branches. Oakley invested in the business in 2017 alongside education entrepreneur Dieter Werkhausen, building on the Firm’s track record of backing successful education businesses.
In partnership with Oakley, Schülerhilfe has strengthened its position as a provider of tutoring services for K-12 students in its core markets, by focusing on quality in-person tutoring, complemented by an online offering and language courses for adults.
Oakley helped Schülerhilfe pivot its teaching programme to online when Covid lockdowns kept students at home, before enrolments rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.
Schülerhilfe’s ongoing investment in online has allowed it to sustain hybrid learning, as well as support new technology initiatives, including the highly successful launch of “Kira”, an online AI learning chatbot.
Meanwhile, Schülerhilfe’s expansion into language courses for adults including on-site, online and B2B, has helped grow its total addressable market. More recently, Oakley has supported Schülerhilfe’s ongoing expansion within DACH, via the acquisition of fit4school in Switzerland, one of the leading tutoring firms in the country with 34 corporate centres. Today, Schülerhilfe is the clear market leader in the DACH region with 720 of its own corporate centres and 431 franchise centres, making it the third largest franchise network in Germany.
Schülerhilfe has succeeded by delivering on an ambitious expansion strategy without sacrificing the quality of its tutoring. Under Dieter’s leadership, the business has expanded into new geographies and services, and today is a key partner for students striving for education success.
Peter Dubens
co-Founder and Managing Partner — Oakley Capital
At Schülerhilfe we’re proud of our record helping thousands of students each year to improve their grades and get ahead in school. We’ve had a very fruitful partnership with Oakley, and have appreciated their entrepreneurial approach. In particular, we have leveraged their strong M&A track record as well as their expertise in digitisation which together have helped us deliver our strategic goals. Now, we look forward to working with LLCP as we aim to accelerate our growth and reinforce our position as market leader in the DACH region.
Dieter Werkhausen
CEO — Schülerhilfe
