Platina Partners buys Unow

Press Release                                                                                                                                 06 September 2021

Real Deals by Julian Longhurst

Investing from Platina Equity Solutions II (PES II), French lower mid-market GP PlatinaPartners has backed management to take control of Unow, a digital professional training specialist.

The deal has been agreed for an undisclosed commitment.

Founded in 2013, Unow designs and provides distance learning programmes specialising on softskills and combining live classes, tutoring and group work with access to digital educationalresources. The group offers a wide range of state-approved (CPF-eligible) tutoring andprofessional certification courses and includes a number of high-profile businesses such asHSBC, Air France, TDF, ABN Amro, BNP Paribas and Deloitte as clients.

With the backing of Platina, Unow aims to build growth through attracting new key clients,while maintaining strong renewal rates with existing customers.

The deal sits firmly within Platina’s strategy of backing platform businesses in growing marketsin the education and ‘silver economy’ spaces. The investor has completed 10 deals in theeducation sector in recent years, including investments in Groupe EDH (higher education),Avenir Santé Formation (professional training in the health sector), Fitec (reskilling anddistance learning) and Ermitage (international primary and secondary education).

Platina was advised by Agilys avocats (legal), Rothschild & Cie (M&A), Aca Nexia (financialDD) and Philips & Byrne (technical DD). The vendor was advised on legals by AVA &ASSOCIES.