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EduFocal borrows $200m from Mayberry

Published:Wednesday | October 5, 2022 | 12:09 AM

Online learning and exam preparation platform Edufocal Limited has acquired a $200-million loan from Mayberry Investment Limited that it will use to pay down existing debt and financing for expansion.

EduFocal will be pumping funds into recently restructured business segments which includes K-12 education; health education, and EduFocal Engage which will focus on software as a service or SaaS content for companies.

The acquisition of Clever School Teacher as a SaaS business in March allowed EduFocal to forge a pathway into the American edtech marketplace.

The loan facility is for seven years, fixed at 9.5 per cent interest for the first two years and a potential rate reset thereafter.

“This is the first material facility that we have had at this interest rate. It’s the lowest interest we’ve had on a debt facility and we are grateful especially in this environment where interest rates are rising,” said EduFocal CEO Gordon Swaby, whose company went public and listed on the junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange in mid-March. The float was arranged and brokered by Mayberry as EduFocal’s financial adviser.

At half-year ending June, Edufocal recorded earnings of $11.6 million, compared to a net loss of $5.3 million in the corresponding 2021 period. Revenue rose 163 per cent year on year.

Its borrowings then totalled $44 million.

“This will largely be the only material debt on our balance sheet moving forward,” Swaby said of the Mayberry loan that his company received on September 30.

EduFocal is currently contemplating a new acquisition that it will be raising additional financing to purchase.

“We are looking at a fairly large acquisition. It’s still in the early stages, but we are looking at closing that deal in the near future. This will be a separate raise with the Mayberry team,” he said.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com