Permira Debt Managers (“PDM”), one of Europe’s leading specialist debt investors, today announced that funds it advises are acting as senior secured lenders to the new investment by IK Investment Partners in Skill & You, a provider of advanced online learning systems for vocational courses, located in France. The support highlights PDM’s focus on high quality growing businesses, in the tech and education sector.
Skill & You has over 120,000 students and a portfolio of 220 courses, largely leading to state diplomas, that cover a wide range of professional fields. The areas of study cover fields such as healthcare, childcare, animal health, IT & digital, accounting and administration, public service, and construction. The company has been at the forefront of the development of e-learning in France, and has also signed a partnership with French institutions to train jobseekers looking to expand their qualifications or change careers. Skill & You employs more than 850 people.
Collectively, the PDM funds have invested approximatively €11bn since inception in a range of European debt products, including over €8bn in European direct lending. PDM has worked with more than 150 companies as well as a significant number of private equity sponsors, management teams and advisors since its establishment.
