Sovereign completes fourth exit in 13 months with sale of Knovia Group

Sovereign Capital Partners, the lower mid-market private equity Buy & Build specialist, has realised its investment in Knovia Group, a leading UK provider of apprenticeships and commercial training, to French education specialist Eureka Education.

This is the first exit from Sovereign’s fifth fund, SCLP V, which closed in 2022, and the fourth by the firm since February 2025, following the sales of Agena, Shackleton and Acolin.

The investment journey began with our long-standing relationship with Paragon Skills, the foundation of what is now Knovia Group. We supported CEO Mark Botha in developing a strategy to build a leading platform in UK vocational training. In April 2022 we provided fresh capital to back the management’s ambition to consolidate the highly fragmented market, with a focus on the growing healthcare and education sectors.

Under Sovereign’s ownership, Knovia more than quadrupled its revenue through organic growth of 15%+ per annum and two strategic acquisitions. The transformational Buy & Build strategy saw Paragon acquire Tempdent, the UK's leading dental nurse training specialist, and create the Knovia Group identity to unite the businesses. This was followed by the acquisition of Babington, one of the largest and most established professional services training providers in the country, and the launch of Shaping Lives, a specialist brand focused on early years education programmes and apprenticeships.

Beyond M&A activity, we supported major operational enhancements, including investment in technology to improve learner engagement and data visibility, strengthened governance and reporting frameworks, and ambitious ESG initiatives.

Today, Knovia is one of the UK’s largest vocational training providers, and the Knovia brands rank among the top three providers by both market share and qualification achievement rates in their sectors. The Group currently supports 14,100 apprentices and works with 6,300 employers nationwide.

James Dargan, Partner, Sovereign Capital Partners, said: "When we invested in Paragon Skills, we saw the potential to build a leading national provider in attractive, high-growth markets. Knovia has gone on to become a genuine market leader in vocational training, and this exit exemplifies our investment approach: identifying high-potential businesses in fragmented markets, driving strategic expansion through acquisitions, supporting organic growth through significant employee investment, and championing operational excellence and innovation. It has been a genuine pleasure to work with Mark and the team, and we are delighted that Eureka Education shares our vision for Knovia's future and we wish everyone involved continued success."

Mark Botha, CEO, Knovia Group, said: "Since partnering with Sovereign Capital Partners, our business has been on an incredible journey of transformation and focused growth. In 2022, we made deliberate investments in our capacity and capability, and these have underpinned consistent year-on-year organic growth ever since. Alongside this, we delivered a clear build and grow strategy, creating the Knovia Group to unify our shared services and strengthen operations across all four businesses.

These steps have significantly enhanced our ability to scale with confidence, while keeping growth, quality, and the experience of our colleagues and learners at the heart of everything we do. As a result, the Knovia Group is now one of the largest training providers in the UK, with meaningful market share gains across our sectors – something that reflects strong demand and the strength of our diversified, brand-led model."

Dominic Dalli, Managing Partner, Sovereign Capital Partners, said: "The sale of Knovia represents an excellent outcome for all stakeholders and demonstrates the strength of our Buy & Build strategy. This is our first exit from Fund V and our fourth in the past 13 months, following the successful sales of Agena, Shackleton and Acolin. This continued momentum reflects both the quality of our portfolio companies and our ability to execute value creation plans effectively. With a robust pipeline of opportunities ahead, we are well placed to continue delivering strong outcomes for our investors."