$20M | Sale of private career college

KitsWest Capital advised the shareholders of a privately-held Fraser Valley-based private career college operating in the post-secondary career and skills training sector on a $20M sell-side M&A process resulting in a strategic acquisition by an institutional acquirer. The business had built accredited programs, multi-campus delivery, and a track record of student outcomes that produced both regulatory standing and durable enrollment. Shareholders sought a buyer that could continue investing in academic quality and growth across additional programs and regions.

The mandate

The engagement covered business preparation and normalized earnings analysis, development of confidential information materials emphasizing accreditation, program portfolio, and regulatory position, identification of qualified strategic and financial buyers across education services and adjacent training sectors, structured bid process management, negotiation of price and key non-price terms including regulatory transition and program continuity covenants, and execution through closing. The buyer pool included strategic education platforms and institutional acquirers expanding in career and skills training.

Why this transaction represents our practice

This $20M sale is representative of the sell-side M&A advisor and mid-market business broker work KitsWest performs for owner-managed businesses in private career colleges, post-secondary career and skills training, and adjacent regulated education services sectors across Canada. Regulated education businesses demand process design that protects accreditation and student continuity through transition, alongside the standard sell-side disciplines of competitive process, normalized earnings preparation, and disciplined negotiation.