Kinea Investimentos, the private equity wing of Brazilian bank Itaú, acquired a 20% stake in Wiser Educação for R$200m. Wiser Educação operates a chain of language schools throughout Brazil.

(Reuters) The private equity management unit of Itaú Unibanco Holding SA, Kinea Investimentos, bought a 20 percent stake in education group Wiser Educação, for 200 million reais ($51.73 million), a person familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The deal, which has been negotiated in the past six months and was formally announced earlier on Monday, valued Wiser Educação, which owns foreign language schools, at approximately 1 billion reais ($259 million), the source said.

Both Kinea and Wiser Educação declined to comment beyond the announcement they issued.

The person, who asked for anonymity to disclose private details, said each shareholder sold a 10 percent stake in the company.

Shareholders Flávio Augusto da Silva and Carlos Wizard Martins will receive 65 million reais each in the deal, while the remaining 70 million reais will be invested in the business, the source said.

The deal, subject to approval by regulatory authorities, will leave Silva with the control of the company, with a 55 percent stake, and Martins with 25 percent, according to the source.

Kinea Investimentos, the private equity arm of Brazil’s largest private lender, Itaú Unibanco, has around 3.4 billion reais under management. ($1 = 3.8660 reais) (Reporting by Gabriela Mello; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)