South African billionaire gets green light to buy Curro for R7.2B

South African billionaire Jannie Mouton’s charitable foundation has secured regulatory backing to buy Curro, the country’s largest private school group, in a R7.2 billion deal.

The Competition Commission has recommended that the Competition Tribunal approve the transaction, saying the deal is unlikely to hurt competition in any market. The proposed acquisition would see the Jannie Mouton Foundation take Curro private and pivot it more explicitly toward a nonprofit-style education mission.

Curro is South Africa’s biggest independent school network, with tens of thousands of pupils enrolled across the country. The group offers pre-primary, primary and high school education, along with digital learning options and a range of curricula aimed at different income levels.

Mouton, one of South Africa’s wealthiest businessmen, founded PSG Group, which went on to back successes such as Capitec Bank, PSG Financial Services and Curro itself. His foundation, a registered public benefit organisation created in 2004, already holds a minority stake in Curro.

Under the deal, Curro would delist from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and become a public benefit organisation in its own right. Any future surpluses would be ploughed back into building new schools, expanding existing campuses and funding bursaries rather than being paid out as dividends. The foundation has framed the transaction as a long-term bet on widening access to quality education.

Mouton’s foundation has described the planned acquisition as a landmark philanthropic move — potentially one of the largest single education-focused commitments in South African history.

Existing Curro shareholders are being offered a package worth about R13 per share, made up of a cash component and shares in Capitec and PSG Financial Services. That structure gives investors continued exposure to two of the JSE’s best-known financial names even as Curro itself exits the market.

The Competition Commission said its support is conditional on undertakings that the deal will make a substantial positive contribution to education, including commitments to broaden access for historically disadvantaged pupils. Curro has told investors it will update them on those undertakings and on the Tribunal’s approval timetable in the coming weeks.

News of the deal has already jolted market interest, with Curro’s share price climbing on the back of the proposed offer and the inclusion of Capitec and PSG shares.

If the Tribunal signs off, Curro will shift from a listed growth story to a mission-driven education vehicle backed by one of the country’s most influential investing families — and, over time, South African families could see new schools, more bursaries and a deeper pipeline of privately funded classrooms.