A consortium led by Canadian asset manager Brookfield has agreed to invest in Dubai-based GEMS Education, according to a statement.

The other investors in the consortium are Gulf Islamic Investments, Marathon Asset Management, and the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Financial details were not disclosed. A Bloomberg report in January pegged the deal at almost $2 billion.

CVC Capital Partners will sell a majority interest in GEMS Education to Brookfield while retaining a stake in the Dubai company, it said in a separate announcement.

GEMS was CVC’s first private equity investment in the Middle East.

Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, will also exit GEMS after six years of investment.

The transaction is expected to be completed in Q3 2024.

Brookfield said GEMS has simultaneously secured financing commitments from a consortium of UAE banks to finance the transaction, including funding the repayment of GEMS’s existing financing arrangements.

GEMS has grown from a single school, following the arrival of the founding family as teachers in Dubai in 1959, to become one of the world’s largest providers of private K-12 education, educating 140,000 students across its 49 schools in the UAE, Qatar, and Egypt.

The company offers various international school curricula across multiple price points, with adjacent services including school transportation and after-school activities.

Dino Varkey, Group Chief Executive Officer of GEMS, attributed the family-owned company’s expansion to a supportive operating environment, underpinned by a strong UAE economy and growing population.

Dev Santani, Managing Director of Brookfield Special Investments, said GEMS is a business with “stable, recurring cash flows”, and added that the investment firm will support the company’s growth through its strategic, flexible capital solutions.

Brookfield Asset Management manages $925 billion worth of assets across renewable power and transition, infrastructure, private equity, real estate, and credit.

According to the firm’s website, its assets under management in Asia Pacific are valued at $127 billion, and it has substantial investments in infrastructure and renewables in China and India.