GEMS Egypt for Education Services, a JV between GEMS Education and Egypt Education Fund managed by EFG Hermes Private Equity, announced today that it has successfully completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Egypt’s leading transportation provider, Option Travel. The transaction stems from the Platform’s strategy of creating a one stop shop for top tier education services in Egypt. The transaction involves secondary and primary tranches, latter to be directed towards accelerating Option Travel’s organic growth plans and launching Egypt’s first specialized student transport service provider, which will primarily cater for the Platform’s existing schools in addition to third party schools.

Option Travel’s founder and principal shareholder Mr. Mohamed Kamel will continue to manage the day to day operations of the company in his capacity as chairman and CEO through a long term management agreement, supported by GEMS Egypt‘s operational team and GEMS Education’s Dubai-based transport arm School Transport Services (STS), the largest student transport service provider in the UAE, which transports more than 80,000 students daily through its fleet of c. 2,600 buses.

The investment by GEMS Egypt in Option Travel represents a vote of confidence to the vastly growing local transportation industry on a macro level and a testament to Option Travel on the success it has reached to date” said Mohamed Kamel, Option travel’s chairman and CEO. “I am very excited about the investment that will see the company expand its service offering and reach its long term and ambitious growth plans”.

The Platform’s investment in Option Travel marks its 3rd investment in the Egyptian market after acquiring 4 operational schools in the cities of Rehab and Madinaty earlier this year and kicking off the development of a 5th international school in the city of Rehab in August to bring the Platform’s total capacity to c.10k students.

The transaction marks an important milestone in bringing key services, rendered across the education value chain, in-house and a key step towards reaching the Platform’s objective of building a vertically integrated operation and a solid K-12 education institutional player” said Karim Moussa, Head of Asset Management and Private Equity at EFG Hermes.

Option Travel has been setting the standards for corporate transportation solutions over the past 12 years, through its fleet of c. 400 vehicles ranging from buses to limousines, and its widespread service centers and garage facilities across Greater Cairo.

Option Travel’s unique blend of strong fundamentals, unparalleled management capabilities led by Mr Mohamed Kamel, and high compliance with international standards, coupled with STS’ proven business model, will enable us to launch the first and widely demanded specialized student transport service in Egypt” said Ahmed Hammam, Associate Director at EFG-Hermes Private Equity division.