New Delhi, March 5 -- Lighthouse Learning Group, the Indian preschool and K-12 education company controlled by US-based private equity firm KKR, is strengthening its early childhood offerings by acquiring a Gurugram-based company.

Lighthouse said Thursday it has formed a "strategic partnership" with Early Learning Village (ELV), a Gurugram-based institution focusing on early education. It didn't disclose the terms of the transaction.

The transaction comes a little more than three months after KKR made an additional investment in Lighthouse and brought on board Canadian pension fund PSP Investments as a new investor.

Lighthouse operates one of India's largest private education networks across preschools and K-12 institutions. Its portfolio includes EuroKids, Kangaroo Kids, EuroSchool, Billabong High International, Centre Point Group of Schools, and the Heritage schools network. The company serves more than 190,000 students daily through over 1,850 preschools and 60 schools.

KKR acquired a majority stake in Eurokids in 2019 and since then has added several other schools to its network. In 2021, it acquired Nagpur-based Centre Point, a chain of K-12 schools. In 2023, the company took over the Gurugram-based premium school chain Heritage Xperiential Schools. The following year, it acquired Phoenix Greens School of Learning in Hyderabad.

ELV was founded by Pradeep Jolly, Priya Dhawan, and Heba Zaidi Khosla. Lighthouse said it plans to expand ELV's small-group learning model into various cities, beyond Gurugram. "We look forward to supporting Priya and Heba as we extend ELV's framework into new cities while preserving the quality, integrity, and intentionality that define the institution," said Prajodh Rajan, co-founder and Group CEO, Lighthouse Learning.

LoEstro Advisors acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Early Learning Village on the transaction. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas was the legal advisor to Lighthouse while Ernst & Young LLP was the financial advisor.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.