Megastudy Education to acquire 100% of ST Unitas for KRW 180bn (terminated)

SI Consumer & Retail Online education (civil-service and language test prep)
Deal value
$124m
Stake
100%
Implied 100%
$124m

Deal value ÷ stake (structure unconfirmed)

Revenue
$153m

2021 연결 · DART-verified

Op. income
—

2021 연결 · DART-verified

Multiples
PSR 0.8x

On implied equity value

DART 20220401000601

Target
ST Unitas · Online education (civil-service and language test prep)
Buyer
Megastudy Education · SI
Seller
Bain Capital (50.32%) and other shareholders
Structure
—
Announced
Oct 21, 2022
Closed
—
Stage
Terminated

Target

ST Unitas is an online education content company operating the Yeongdangi (English tests) and Gongdangi (civil-service exams) brands; it bought The Princeton Review in 2017 and sold it in January 2022.

Deal rationale

Megastudy Education said it decided on the deal to strengthen its civil-service exam business and expand synergies, entering that segment after K-12 and university-transfer prep. Per The Bell, Bain Capital had invested about KRW 150bn in new shares via its special-situations fund in 2020 and would receive roughly KRW 90bn of the KRW 180bn price. The KFTC prohibited the merger on March 21, 2024, citing a combined 67.9% share in online civil-service lecture markets.

신사업 진출PE 회수(펀드 만기)
Revenue$153m
Operating income—
EBITDA—
Net income—

2021 연결 · DART-verified · 20220401000601

Press coverage

  • 이데일리 (2022-10-21): “에스티유니타스 지분을 1800억원 벨류로 인수하는 계약이다.”
  • 머니S (2022-10-25): “ST유니타스 지분 100%를 1800억원에 인수한다고 밝혔다.”
  • 더벨 (2022-12-29): “메가스터디교육은 올 10월 ST유니타스 지분 100%를 1800억원에 인수했다.”
  • 연합뉴스(다음) (2024-03-21): “두 회사가 결합 후 각 시장에서의 합산 점유율은 각각 67.9%, 75.0%로 매우 높았다.”
  • 아시아경제 (2025-04-03): “2022년 매출액 1584억원, 영업이익 32억원을 기록하던 에스티유니타스”

This is a data entry summarising filings and press reports. Please check the original sources for the figures.