Taaleem Secures AED 968M Financing to Expand UAE Education Portfolio with Harrow Brand

Malaz Madani

Last updated 24-09-2025

3 min

Taaleem Holdings secured AED 968 million in financing from Emirates Islamic for educational investments.

AED 730 million is allocated for acquiring Kids First Group's 34 nursery branches.

AED 238 million will fund a new Harrow School in Abu Dhabi, targeting premium education.

The financing aligns with long-term educational and knowledge-based economy goals.

These moves highlight education as strategic, combining brand power and significant capital investment.

Taaleem Holdings has just signed off on two hefty financing agreements with Emirates Islamic, together worth AED 968 million, marking another bold push into both early childhood learning and the super-premium school market in the UAE.

The first deal, valued at AED 730 million, backs Taaleem’s recent majority acquisition of Kids First Group – a well-established nursery network with 34 branches spread across the UAE and Qatar. For anyone keeping tabs on the education sector, it’s spot on timing: investment in early learning isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s becoming a cornerstone for long-term educational reform. I’ve seen similar moves before in the region, and honestly, it often pays off beyond just financial return – parents are hungry for quality nurseries that set the tone before children step into primary.

The second agreement, worth AED 238 million, goes into building a Harrow School in Abu Dhabi. Yes, the same Harrow that counts world leaders among its alumni. Taaleem has exclusive rights to the Harrow brand across the Gulf, and this project signals its intention to capture the high-end education market. Of course, that’s a crowded space, but attaching Harrow’s pedigree could give Taaleem quite an edge. On the flip side, some might argue that “super-premium” schools risk pricing out much of the community. I reckon affordability will remain a thorny issue.

Alan Williamson, Taaleem’s CEO, described the partnerships as aligned with a shared vision for long-term impact, stressing the mix of Shari’ah-compliant financing with education-focused growth. Meanwhile, Emirates Islamic’s Deputy CEO, Mohammad Kamran Wajid, underlined how such deals reflect national priorities to pivot towards a knowledge-based economy. The bank already has a track record in ESG-linked financing, so it’s not just about bricks and mortar; sustainability is built into the frame.

From what I’ve seen covering similar stories for Arageek, these sorts of agreements can seem a bit of a faff to outsiders—banking jargon, long-term projections, endless paperwork. But when they materialise into actual schools and nurseries, families feel the difference overnight. And believe it or not, even sceptics of “premium” education might be chuffed to bits when a Harrow campus opens in Abu Dhabi, simply because it raises the bar across the system.

Taaleem isn’t exactly a small player now, with 38 schools, nearly half run in partnership with government bodies, and more than 41,000 students enrolled. Still, this move into nurseries on one side and Harrow-branded schooling on the other feels like a twin bet on the youngest learners and the wealthiest households. Whether that balance works long-term, well... we’ll see. For sure, the financing deals show how education in the UAE is not just about classrooms and teachers anymore—it’s about strategy, brand power, and of course, hefty capital injections.

It’s not hard to notice a wider lesson here for founders and startups in the region. Building capacity for growth is rarely straight forward, but when the right partner steps in at the right moment, the whole game can change over-night. And that, in many ways, is what keeps MENA’s entrepreneurial scene buzzing.

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