Aureus Group acquires Ossia Music School in seven-figure deal

AUREUS Group on Monday announced the acquisition of Ossia Music School Pte Ltd for a seven-figure sum.

The group is the parent company of homegrown music school Aureus Academy, which began as a small outfit in Delfi Orchard in 2013. The deal increases its number of locations from 10 to 18 and student count from 5,000 to 8,000, while also nearly doubling its workforce to almost 400 employees.

Lawrence Homefjord-Sarabi, chief executive officer of Aureus Group, said it aims "to become the dominant provider of music education in Asia and the Middle East".

Ossia Music School operates eight schools across Singapore, with more than 3,000 children enrolled and employing over 150 teaching and support staff.

It was founded in 1983 and originally owned by Citystate Group, a multi-business company with assets in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China and India.

Leow Tze Wen, chairman of Citystate Group said: "Aureus' passion for nurturing musical talents perfectly reflects the heart and soul of Ossia, and we are confident that our company is in capable hands".