Talis Education Group acquires Aston and strengthens its training offering in digital professions

The SQLI group, an IT services company (ESN) listed on Compartment B of Euronext Paris, and Talis Education Group, a Bordeaux-based education group controlled by Idi, announce the sale of all the shares of Aston, a school specializing in IT and digital professions. Under the terms of the transaction, Talis acquires 100% of Aston’s capital, based on a valuation of between €20M and €30M.

This carve-out allows SQLI to refocus on its core business, while giving Aston the means to accelerate its development within a benchmark education player, in a sector undergoing consolidation.

Aston: training for IT and digital professions

Aston is a school specializing in training for IT, digital and cybersecurity professions, driven in particular by a proprietary cybersecurity degree. Generating around €13M in revenue, the school relies on three campuses in the Île-de-France region and in Lille.

Led by Jean-François Castelluccia, Aston joins the Talis group with the ambition of rolling out its educational offering across all of the group’s campuses from the 2024 academic year.

A refocusing transaction for SQLI, a springboard for Aston

The sale of Aston is part of SQLI’s strategy to refocus on its core business, with the IT services company pursuing targeted acquisitions in parallel. For Aston, aligning with Talis represents a lever for development, giving its teams the means to grow within an education specialist.

About Talis Education Group

Controlled by Idi alongside Raise Impact and Aquiti Gestion, and driven by a management team led by Yves Hinnekint, Talis Education Group is a Bordeaux-based education group born from a 2021 LBO. After three successive acquisitions, including that of FORE, the group increased its consolidated revenue to around €65M in 2023.

We were looking to strengthen our position in digital training in order to complement the group’s offering. By integrating a recognized brand in the digital and cybersecurity field, we are improving our geographic coverage and continuing to balance initial and continuing education.

Augustin Harrel-Courtès, Partner at Idi

With the acquisition of Aston, the group now brings together 15 campuses in France, trains nearly 8,000 students per year, employs more than 300 people and is targeting pro forma revenue of around €75M. The transaction was financed by the group’s cash, a new bank debt facility and a capital increase of around €10M, in which the three financial shareholders, management and Jean-François Castelluccia participated.