Vietnam’s EQuest Education Group is looking to raise up to $325 million in international capital to fund education projects in the country under a partnership with Standard Chartered Bank.
EQuest, its subsidiary EQuest Capital, and Standard Chartered’s New York branch have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on the proposed fundraising, according to a statement on Tuesday.
Standard Chartered will act as a strategic partner in structuring and helping arrange the financing packages. The capital is expected to be channelled through EQuest Capital, a member of the Vietnam International Financial Center in Ho Chi Minh City (VIFC-HCMC), before being deployed into EQuest’s education projects.
The planned investments will cover the development of a university branch campus focused on areas including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science, robotics and semiconductors; international university partnerships; and the expansion of EQuest’s international and private K-12 school networks.
Part of the capital is also expected to support the development of education technology platforms, while Ho Chi Minh City will be a key focus of the investment programme.
Following the signing, the parties will assess the feasibility of individual projects, determine financing structures and develop implementation plans. The fundraising and disbursement will be subject to project timelines, regulatory requirements and necessary approvals.
EQuest operates more than 25 educational institutions and campuses in Vietnam, serving nearly 20,000 K-12 students and 10,000 college and university students. Its education programmes and technology products are also used by more than 180,000 students in Vietnam and overseas.
The education group has previously attracted investments from KKR, Singapore-based TAEL Partners and Vietnam Oman Investment, a joint sovereign investment fund established by Vietnam and Oman.
In June this year, EQuest secured an inaugural offshore syndicated loan of $115.5 million. The financing was provided primarily by Taiwanese banks, with CTBC Bank as another arranger, DealStreetAsia has learnt. Standard Chartered revealed that it was an oversubscribed round.
