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Burugus bag Sh1.2bn from sale of Runda school to SA company
The founders said the new owner is better placed to support the school with a capacity of 2,000 students to grow into the future, leveraging its expertise in the education sector and larger capital base.
Regis Runda Academy proprietors—Peter Burugu and Mary Burugu—have sold the school to South African multinational ADvTECH for Sh1.2 billion, marking one of the largest deals in Kenya’s private education market.
The transaction marks the latest expansion in Kenya by ADvTECH, which first acquired a 71 percent stake in Makini Schools from Mary Okelo at a cost of nearly Sh1 billion in 2018.
The buyout of Regis will raise the number of schools it owns in Kenya to 10, including Crawford International, which is also being expanded in response to increased demand.
Following the buyout, Regis will be rebranded to operate under ADvTECH’s Makini brand.
“ADvTECH, Africa’s leading private education provider, has expanded its Makini Schools offering in Nairobi, Kenya, by acquiring Regis Runda Academy for Sh1.23 billion (about 172 million rands),” the multinational said in a statement.
Chief Executive Geoff Whyte said the transaction increases Makini Schools’ footprint in Kenya and brings the brand’s “compelling proposition to parents and students in one of the fastest developing regions of Nairobi”.
The founders of Regis had communicated the change of ownership of the school to parents, staff, and students. Regis has been charging slightly higher fees than Makini schools in Nairobi, offering the same Competency-Based Curriculum.
The founders said the new owner is better placed to support the school with a capacity of 2,000 students to grow into the future, leveraging its expertise in the education sector and larger capital base.
“The business of school operations is not among our core family businesses, and we always felt limited in ensuring the longer-term growth of the school in our competitive education sector,” the Burugus wrote in the communication to the stakeholders.
The family has various business interests, including Runda Gardens, a gated community, and Kiambu Mall. Mr Burugu, a former employee of East African Breweries, later became a distributor of the brewer in lucrative territories, including Kiambu and Nairobi’s Eastlands.
ADvTECH, which has schools in several countries, including South Africa and Botswana, has a strategy of offering private education conforming to Kenya’s national curriculum and the Cambridge curriculum.
The multinational posted a pre-tax profit of R69.3 million (Sh505 million) from its schools in Kenya in the year ended December 2024, up from R40.2 million (Sh293 million) in the prior year.
ADvTECH says more parents with learners in Makini Schools are shifting to the Cambridge curriculum.
“Our higher-priced Makini Cambridge International curriculum continues to experience strong growth, with parents increasingly choosing it over the Kenyan national syllabus,” it said in its latest annual report.
“This is having a positive impact on the overall financial performance of Makini.”
