Education, Careers & Professional News
First Foreign Investment In Israeli Education
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, a division of The Washington Post Company`s Kaplan Inc. has agreed to acquire Tel Aviv-based Kidum Group in the first major foreign investment in Israeli education, the companies said Wednesday. The companies declined to disclose the terms of the agreement.
Education services provider Kaplan has been on the acquisition trail over the last three years, expanding its reach in the United States and recently moving into Asia and Europe, and with its purchase of Kidum gains a stronghold in the Middle East market.
We are always on the lookout for strong businesses operating in healthy education markets, said John Polstein, president of Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. With its strong management team, Kidum has been on our radar for some time now. Following approximately six months of negotiations, the two signed a definitive agreement last Wednesday which will go into effect in the next few weeks.
Kidum chairman Shai Reshef, who had full ownership of the group, told the Post that Kidum had been growing steadily for many years and that to continue to do so it needed stronger backing, which Kaplan could provide.
While Reshef said that he would not continue his involvement in the company, Polstein stressed that Kaplan had no plans to make any structural or managerial changes at Kidum.
Founded in 1981 on the basis of the Kaplan model, Kidum operates 48 centers throughout the country under the framework of its four subsidiaries: Kidum Test Prep, which provides preparation courses for psychometric and GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) exams, Lachman Test Prep for adults learning towards their matriculation, Publishing House with its line of text books used in the courses, and the Israeli franchisee of the Wall Street Institute School for learning English.
It has 900 employees and some 36,000 students, making it the largest for profit educational company in Israel.
New York-based Kaplan, which had revenues of over $1.1 billion in 2004, also operates in four divisions, those being Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, Kaplan Higher Education, Kaplan Professional and SCORE, offering higher education, professional training, test preparation, services for K-12 schools and after school learning programs.
Reshef said, however, that the similarities between Kaplan and Kidum extended beyond their operating activities. We were surprised at how good a fit the two companies are, he said. It`s rare to find a company which is operating in the same market and is so similar in its attitude towards its employees and students.