UK's Palamon sells Italian digital business school to Digit'Ed
26/07/2023 17:49
MILAN, July 26 (Reuters) - Italy's Digit'Ed, the
education venture of private equity firm Nextalia and bank
Intesa Sanpaolo ISP.MI , said on Wednesday it had bought 24ORE
Business School from Britain's Palamon Capital Partners.
Planning to employ artificial intelligence, Digit'Ed
currently focuses on employee training courses on topics such as
cybersecurity, data and cloud, as well as sustainability issues.
The deal, which Italian media say is worth around 200
million euros ($221.42 million), will allow it to complement
this with professionally-oriented education and training.
24ORE Business School targets young graduates or high school
leavers, as well as professionals such as tax advisers or
business owners.
Palamon, a London-based private equity fund had acquired
what has since become Italy's main digital business school back
in 2017 from publishing group Il Sole 24 Ore S24.MI .
Betting on a structural shift towards private education and
building on a previous investment in Cambridge Education Group,
Palamon acquired 24ORE Business School to address a need for
specialised vocational training in a country where youth
unemployment in some areas tops 30%.
Digit'Ed was born last year after Nextalia acquired the
majority of the education operations of bank Intesa Sanpaolo.
The lender owns 20% of Digit'Ed and is also an investor in
Nextalia, the private equity firm set up by Italian investment
banker Francesco Canzonieri.
Palamon grew the 24ORE Business School through investments
in its technology infrastructure, with classes delivered both
100% online or as a hybrid of online and classroom.
($1 = 0.9033 euros)
(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Gavin Jones)
((valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9526;))