Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/03/2012 -- Education Growth Advisors, a strategic consultancy and advisory firm exclusively serving the education sector, and Education Growth Partners, a private equity firm dedicated to providing growth capital to education services companies, today announced the addition of four seasoned education industry professionals to their team. Gates Bryant, Vivek Kamath and Dean Schmitt join Education Growth Advisors, while Brian Nairn joins Education Growth Partners. The four veteran executives will be an asset to the growth and development of the respective businesses as they continue to serve K-12 and postsecondary markets, professional and lifelong learning sectors, as well as investments firms and foundations.

Education Growth Advisors offers a full suite of advisory services, including strategic, operational, and transactional capabilities with an emphasis on accelerating growth, enhancing core business functions and preparing clients in the education space for capital market activity.

Joining Education Growth Advisors is Gates Bryant, Vivek Kamath and Dean Schmitt. Their professional backgrounds include:

Gates Bryant, Partner – Mr. Bryant’s career is steeped in knowledge about the education industry. Prior to joining Education Growth Advisors, Mr. Bryant was a senior executive with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the world's largest provider of pre-K-12 solutions, working in strategy, product management and finance. Mr. Bryant also served as a strategy consultant with the Parthenon Group, focusing almost entirely on the education industry for seven years and advised the largest foundation in K-12 education on investment and funding initiatives to improve the alignment of instructional systems and public/private cooperation.

Vivek Kamath, Managing Director – Mr. Kamath has over 10 years of experience in investment banking, specializing in the education, knowledge management and training markets. From 1999-2011 he held several positions at Berkery Noyes, first as an analyst then as Vice President and finally as Managing Director. During his tenure at Berkery Noyes, Mr. Kamath managed all aspects of mergers and acquisitions transactions for the firm’s Education practice and participated in over 150 transactions across all segments of the information, media, and technology markets. In addition, he helped manage the firm’s recruiting initiatives for analysts and associates.

Dean Schmitt, Principal – Mr. Schmitt served as a Senior Associate at Swift River Investments, a middle market private equity firm, before joining Education Growth Advisors. In this role, Mr. Schmitt supported the firm’s growth in selective long-term investments in the technology, energy and consumer product industries. Prior to his work at Swift River Investments, Mr. Schmitt was a Senior Analyst at Brown Gibbons Lang & Company, a middle market investment bank, where he supported a number of domestic and international transactions through financial analysis, valuation, industry research and due diligence.

“Our clients have come to rely on our extensive market knowledge, robust networks and strong general management capabilities to help them capitalize on industry opportunities and navigate challenges. Gates’, Vivek’s and Dean’s keen understanding of the education sector make significant contributions to the core competencies of the firm,” said Adam Newman, Managing Partner at Education Growth Advisors. “This is an exciting period of growth for Education Growth Advisors, and the addition of these senior-level professionals will exponentially increase our ability to help existing clients and attract new ones,” added Managing Partner Christopher Curran.

Education Growth Partners, which primarily focuses on growth capital financings, minority recapitalizations and buyouts of profitable, high-growth education companies, announced the appointment of Brian Nairn as an Operating Partner. Mr. Nairn’s professional experience includes:

Brian Nairn, Operating Partner – Mr. Nairn brings with him a deep knowledge of operations across a number of markets and over 20 years of experience in publishing. Most recently Mr. Nairn was the CEO of the Health Sciences division of Eslevier, a division of Reed Elsevier and the world’s largest publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. Prior to that, Mr. Nairn served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Cahners Business Information, an $800 million U.S.-based provider of magazines, data and online services across widespread geographic locations and multiple, diverse vertical markets, and held several senior positions with Advanstar Communications.

“Brian Nairn is a key addition to the Education Growth Partners investment team. He not only has a phenomenal track record for initiating and executing growth-oriented transactions, but has also had tremendous success across a wide range of markets. Brian’s leadership and business acumen will be integral to helping drive the growth of our portfolio companies,” said Peter Campbell, Managing Partner at Education Growth Partners.

Peter Campbell, Christopher Curran and Adam Newman, education and investment industry veterans with unparalleled knowledge, experience and relationships in the education space, founded Education Growth Partners and Education Growth Advisors in 2010. Since the launch, the companies have become a primary resource for executives and organizations seeking to evaluate strategic options, accelerate growth and improve business operations.

About Education Growth Advisors
Education Growth Advisors is a strategic consultancy and advisory firm exclusively serving the education sector. It delivers strategy and operational consulting services to companies, executives and selected investors with an emphasis on accelerating growth, enhancing core business functions and preparing clients for capital market activities. Led by a team of education and investment industry veterans, EGA clients receive access to proprietary resources and consulting services informed by nearly two decades of education sector experience. For more information, visit http://www.edgrowthadvisors.com.

About Education Growth Partners
Founded in 2010 by longtime education investors Peter Campbell and Christopher Curran, Education Growth Partners is the premier growth private equity firm focused exclusively on the Prek-12, higher education, corporate training and lifelong learning sectors. The firm leads growth capital financings, minority recapitalizations, and buyouts of profitable, high-growth companies in the target sectors. For more information, visit http://www.edgrowthpartners.com.

The firms have offices in Stamford, Connecticut and Boston Massachusetts.