Company Insights Gems Education Education Gems Education Overview Gems Education is a private education provider with more than 60 schools in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, educating 170,000 students from more than 176 countries. The company provides pre-school, primary and secondary education. Indian-born teachers Mariamma and KS Varkey started the family tutoring business in Dubai in 1959. As more foreign workers moved to the emirate, demand increased for an English-language education for the children of Indian expatriates. The Varkeys founded Our Own English High School in Dubai in 1968. In 1980 the Varkeys’ son Sunny took over the operation of the school. At the time it had fewer than 400 students but Sunny expanded the school and opened new ones. Under his umbrella business organisation the Varkey Group, Sunny Varkey opened Indian, Pakistani and British schools. In June 2024 a consortium led by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management and including Gulf Islamic Investments, Marathon Asset Management and the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan, announced it would invest in Gems Education. The value of the deal was thought to be almost $2 billion. Gems Education News Education Gems Education announces $100m Dubai school Gems Education has revealed plans to open the most expensive school in the Gulf, which is set for completion later this year. It is spending $100 million to develop Gems School of Research and Innovation in Dubai Sports City. Annual fees will start from AED116,000 ($31,582) for early-years education and rise to AED206,000 by the […] January 14, 2025 Economy Billionaires in UAE rise as Saudi numbers drop The number of billionaires in the UAE increased in the last year as the amount of super-wealthy residents in neighbouring Saudi Arabia dropped. Forty-eight billionaires lived in the UAE in 2023, with a combined wealth of $205 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7 percent. Dubai made up 39 of that total and welcomed one extra […] November 24, 2024 Finance PIF to back Brookfield Middle East fund Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) plans to back Brookfield Asset Management’s new $2 billion Middle East fund, helping the Canadian investment firm pursue deals in the Gulf. The investment platform, known as Brookfield Middle East Partners, will target $2 billion from a range of investors and intends to focus on buyouts and structured solutions, […] October 30, 2024 People & Lifestyle Dubai private schools face major shortfall of places Dubai’s private school sector is staring at a shortfall of more than 100,000 places by the start of the 2031 academic year, as the industry struggles to keep pace with the emirate’s increasing population. Under the Dubai 2040 Master Plan, the emirate’s population is forecast to reach 7.8 million by the end of the next […] October 29, 2024 People & Lifestyle Brookfield seeks ADQ support in bid for Spain’s Grifols Brookfield Asset Management has been in discussions with ADQ, a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi, to explore potential support for acquiring Spanish blood-plasma company Grifols SA. The Canada-based investment company has also held talks with Singapore’s GIC Pte, though no agreements have been finalised, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. Grifols, which is traded on […] September 2, 2024 Education Brookfield to invest in Dubai’s Gems Education A consortium led by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management is to invest in Gems Education, the UAE’s private school operator. Other members of the group include Gulf Islamic Investments, Marathon Asset Management and the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Financial details were not disclosed but the investment is expected to be almost $2 […] June 18, 2024 Education Cybercrooks have their eyes on Gulf schools, experts warn The education sector in the GCC has emerged as a prime target for cybercriminals because of budgetary constraints and a lack of expertise, tech experts have told AGBI. “Schools, in particular, are vulnerable due to their extensive storage of sensitive personal information and comparatively lower investments in cybersecurity,” said Ram Narayanan, country manager at Check […] April 30, 2024 Opinion Real Estate School’s in: UAE education is ripe for investment The listing of more education-based real estate investment trusts will diversify UAE capital markets February 5, 2024 Education UAE teacher shortfall is looming ‘iceberg’ The UAE will need up to 30,000 more teachers by 2030, a shortfall that needs confronting, an expert has warned. The total number of students in the public and private sector in the UAE for 2020-2021 stood at 1.04 million. This is expected to increase to 1.25 million students by 2030. Based on this growth […] January 18, 2024 Tech UAE cybersecurity is failing, say IT executives Inadequate technology is one of the primary causes of data breaches suffered by UAE companies, despite huge investments made by IT departments in the Gulf state to combat cyberattacks, say experts. Companies in the Mena region spent $2.8 billion on cybersecurity last year, according to US technology research and consulting firm Gartner. Yet a report […] December 8, 2023 Posts navigation 1 2 Next
Education Gems Education announces $100m Dubai school Gems Education has revealed plans to open the most expensive school in the Gulf, which is set for completion later this year. It is spending $100 million to develop Gems School of Research and Innovation in Dubai Sports City. Annual fees will start from AED116,000 ($31,582) for early-years education and rise to AED206,000 by the […] January 14, 2025
Economy Billionaires in UAE rise as Saudi numbers drop The number of billionaires in the UAE increased in the last year as the amount of super-wealthy residents in neighbouring Saudi Arabia dropped. Forty-eight billionaires lived in the UAE in 2023, with a combined wealth of $205 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7 percent. Dubai made up 39 of that total and welcomed one extra […] November 24, 2024
Finance PIF to back Brookfield Middle East fund Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) plans to back Brookfield Asset Management’s new $2 billion Middle East fund, helping the Canadian investment firm pursue deals in the Gulf. The investment platform, known as Brookfield Middle East Partners, will target $2 billion from a range of investors and intends to focus on buyouts and structured solutions, […] October 30, 2024
People & Lifestyle Dubai private schools face major shortfall of places Dubai’s private school sector is staring at a shortfall of more than 100,000 places by the start of the 2031 academic year, as the industry struggles to keep pace with the emirate’s increasing population. Under the Dubai 2040 Master Plan, the emirate’s population is forecast to reach 7.8 million by the end of the next […] October 29, 2024
People & Lifestyle Brookfield seeks ADQ support in bid for Spain’s Grifols Brookfield Asset Management has been in discussions with ADQ, a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi, to explore potential support for acquiring Spanish blood-plasma company Grifols SA. The Canada-based investment company has also held talks with Singapore’s GIC Pte, though no agreements have been finalised, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. Grifols, which is traded on […] September 2, 2024
Education Brookfield to invest in Dubai’s Gems Education A consortium led by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management is to invest in Gems Education, the UAE’s private school operator. Other members of the group include Gulf Islamic Investments, Marathon Asset Management and the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Financial details were not disclosed but the investment is expected to be almost $2 […] June 18, 2024
Education Cybercrooks have their eyes on Gulf schools, experts warn The education sector in the GCC has emerged as a prime target for cybercriminals because of budgetary constraints and a lack of expertise, tech experts have told AGBI. “Schools, in particular, are vulnerable due to their extensive storage of sensitive personal information and comparatively lower investments in cybersecurity,” said Ram Narayanan, country manager at Check […] April 30, 2024
Opinion Real Estate School’s in: UAE education is ripe for investment The listing of more education-based real estate investment trusts will diversify UAE capital markets February 5, 2024
Education UAE teacher shortfall is looming ‘iceberg’ The UAE will need up to 30,000 more teachers by 2030, a shortfall that needs confronting, an expert has warned. The total number of students in the public and private sector in the UAE for 2020-2021 stood at 1.04 million. This is expected to increase to 1.25 million students by 2030. Based on this growth […] January 18, 2024
Tech UAE cybersecurity is failing, say IT executives Inadequate technology is one of the primary causes of data breaches suffered by UAE companies, despite huge investments made by IT departments in the Gulf state to combat cyberattacks, say experts. Companies in the Mena region spent $2.8 billion on cybersecurity last year, according to US technology research and consulting firm Gartner. Yet a report […] December 8, 2023
