Why the Irish education market may be ripe for investment

In April 2023, UK-based Dukes Education acquired the Institute of Education — a Dublin grinds school preparing students for the Leaving Certificate — for close to €130 million. The deal included property, but it was really a bet on the business itself: Ireland's private supplementary-education market, quietly profitable and long owned by a single family, opened to institutional capital for the first time in a generation. Newly filed accounts suggest the bet has paid off. Turnover at the Institute rose 15% to €26.5 million in the year to August 2025, operating profit rose from €9.2 million to €10.5 million, and after-tax profit reached €9.2 million — roughly triple what the business earned in the last full year before the sale. Dukes added Cork grinds school Bruce College to its Irish portfolio in early 2024 for a reported €9 million, underlining a clear buy-and-build strategy. Then, in August 2026, news broke that Dublin Business School (DBS) was to be sold, with Hong Kong-listed China Chunlai Education Group (CCEG) agreeing to buy the institution for US$127.5 million — approximately €110 million — from American education firm Kaplan. DBS teaches around 9,000 students a year, and its new owner has been at pains to point out that its commitment to academic quality, career-focused programmes and global partnerships remains unchanged.