Educomp buys 50 pct in EuroKids for 390 mln rupees

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Education services firm Educomp Solutions Ltd has acquired 50 percent stake in Mumbai-based EuroKids International Pvt Ltd for 390 million rupees to expand in pre-school education, the companies said.

Educomp may increase its stake to 74 percent in EuroKids over a period of time. Both the firms will jointly take EuroKids pre-school network to 1,000 from existing 450 over the next 3 years, a joint statement said.

"Educomp has made a strategic investment in EuroKids to leverage the company's established presence in early child care education," Educomp's Managing Director Shantanu Prakash said.

Educomp currently has a presence in pre-school segment through its chain known as "Roots to Wings," which currently has 52 franchisees.

Prakash told Reuters the firm plans to open 1,000 "Roots to Wings" schools in next 3 years through franchisee model.

This will take its presence in pre-schools to 2,000 in next three years.

"Pre-school is very important part of our strategy. We want that the first school of a child should be an Educomp school, whether it is EuroKids or Roots to Wings. We want to catch them young," Prakash said.

Shares of Educomp, which rose as much as 2.3 percent earlier in the day to 3,707 rupees, were trading at 3,627 rupees at 12:57 p.m in a weak Mumbai market.