VK subsidiary Uchi.ru is going to buy the former English First

A subsidiary of the online educational platform Uchi.ru (part of VK) filed a petition to acquire MK Rushmore LLC. The latter owns the UFirst network of English language schools, which appeared after the local management bought out the Russian business English First from a foreign owner. Market participants believe that the transaction will be approved in the near future; the purchase will allow VK to strengthen the direction of children’s education, the growth dynamics of which are higher than other areas of the edtech market.

“Kommersant” found in the database of legal decisions of the FAS that Uchi.Ru Plus LLC filed a petition with the service to acquire a 100% stake in the authorized capital of the international company (MK) Rushmore LLC. The notice was registered on November 20. The FAS reported that they received the petition and are considering it.

VK became the sole owner of the Uchi.ru platform in February, Vedomosti reported, the transaction amount was 8.7 billion rubles. Uchi.ru’s revenue in 2023 increased by 30.8%, to 3 billion rubles, net profit – eight times, to 775.6 million rubles. VK and Uchi.ru declined to comment. It was not possible to contact MK Rushmore LLC.

The UFirst project emerged as a result of the reorganization of the business of the English First international school, explained the company’s general director Elena Mukhametzyanova to Forbes in 2022. According to her, the search for a buyer for the English First business in Russia began back in 2020. Schools switched to new teaching materials, and in 2021 the project began the transition to independent CRM (customer relationship management) and accounting reporting.

Now the UFirst structure includes 15 divisions – in particular, four in St. Petersburg, ten in Moscow and one in Novosibirsk. The company itself did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

The cost of the transaction could be about 100–150 million rubles, says AFI Capital CEO Alexey Gorislavets. After the reorganization, UFirst “didn’t really manage to develop the online format,” they tried to create hybrid schools, notes Smart Ranking analyst Margarita Aranovskaya. In her opinion, integration with Uchi.ru will allow “expanding the technical side of the company”, and VK will receive “years-tested” educational developments.

According to the results of the third quarter, the market for educational services increased by 38% year-on-year – the revenue of the top 100 services, according to Smart Ranking, amounted to 31.4 billion rubles. (see “Kommersant” dated November 1). Revenue from the children’s education segment grew by 44%, to RUB 9.3 billion; the category’s share in the revenue of the top 100 companies was 29.6%. At the same time, its dynamics are still ahead of adults, the agency clarified to Kommersant: “Children’s schools note the increasing maturity of the market and increasing involvement from the state.”

VK is “obviously strengthening the direction of children’s education,” says a Kommersant source on the edtech market. At the same time, he notes, the directions of the UFirst school are “a kind of starting package for a successful student, since it includes the study of English, programming, and Chinese.”

Yulia Yurasova