GEMS Egypt for Education Services acquires majority stake in Option Travel

The deal is line with GEMS Egypt’s “strategy of creating a one stop shop for top tier education services in Egypt,” according to a recent statement released by EFG Hermes.

GEMS Egypt for Education Services is a joint venture (JV) between GEMS Education and Egypt Education Fund managed by EFG Hermes Private Equity.

The investment will be used to boost Option Travel’s growth and launch the first specialised student transport service provider in Egypt.

“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,” head of asset management and private equity at EFG Hermes, Karim Moussa, said.

This is the third investment by GEMS Egypt in the most populous Arab nation after acquiring four schools in 2019 and launching the development of an international school, raising the platform’s total capacity to about 10,000 students.

“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,” Option travel’s chairman and CEO, Mohamed Kamel, noted.