21 Invest France acquires Edukea

21 Invest France acquires Edukea group, European training platform specialized in complementary and alternative medicine

21 Invest France takes majority stake in Edukea group alongside Christophe Caporossi, Chairman of the group.

Edukea is a training platform made up of three schools as of today:

• ESO: pioneer school for osteopathy training in France, founded in 1991
• IFOA: school dedicated to animal osteopathy, acquired in 2020
• and ESNAT: school dedicated to naturopathy launched in 2021

The group's purpose is to train health professionals and practitioners specializing in alternative and natural medicine. It has thus structured a unique academic offer around human as well as animal health and well-being. Each school meets the most demanding training criteria. ESO is approved by the French Ministry of Health and certified "Excellence in Osteopathy" by Bureau Veritas Certification. IFOA prepares each of its students for the CNOV (French National Veterinary Council) licensing exam and finally ESNAT delivers training courses in line with WHO recommendations.

Training courses are based on the “learning by doing” principle, in particular with best-in-class integrated clinics. Edukea also plays a prominent part in research, with a laboratory within the ESO school and numerous research partnerships contributing to the pursuit of scientific advances and to the Group's international influence.

The strong reputation of the group and the proven quality of its training allow it to attract more and more students in France and in Europe, in particular following the opening of campuses in Spain and Belgium. The group shows dynamic growth and sales of over €M 10. More than 1,200 students will be trained as of this 2021/22 academic year.

In 2017, Christophe Caporossi joined forces with Ciclad to take over the business created by his father and embark on a growth strategy, particularly through acquisitions.

21 Invest France will continue and accelerate the strategy initiated by Mr. Caporossi of building a European training platform in health and well-being. The teams will therefore focus mainly on the deployment of an ambitious external growth plan. Bpifrance will support the Edukea group with a unitranche financing adapted to this development project.

Christophe Caporossi, Chairman of Edukea group comments: "*The team is happy to join forces with 21 Invest to begin the new phase of development. The expertise of our new partners in the healthcare and education sectors as well as their support in the roll-out of the acquisition strategy will allow us to establish ourselves as the reference European platform for alternative medicine training. *"

Fabrice Voituron, Managing Partner at 21 Invest France says: “This 9th investment of our Fund V gathers all the characteristics that we are looking for in a deal: dynamic growth, recurrence, leadership position in a fragmented market and a strong social purpose. We are excited to support Christophe Caporossi and his teams in this ambitious transformation and consolidation project both in France and in Europe. "

Nicolas Rostand, Managing Partner at Ciclad adds: "*Christophe Caporossi brilliantly succeeded in taking over from Roger Caporossi, a pioneer in osteopathy education, and pursuing ESO's policy of excellence. We are proud and happy to have supported him in this transition and in the implementation of a growth strategy that has strengthened the leading position of the Edukea group. *"

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