Infrastructure fund manager Stonepeak is investing $1bn (€951m) to take a minority interest in global private-schools provider Inspired Education Group.

The investment will help Inspired, which educates more than 55,000 students in over 70 schools in 20 countries, expand and develop new school campuses.

It will continue to be led and controlled by Nadim Nsouli who founded the company in 2013.

Inspired has previously attracted investment from Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, and private equity firms TA Associates and Warburg Pincus.

“In less than nine years, we have become the leading global group of premium schools,” said Nsouli. “We have been able to do so by being laser focused on delivering an outstanding holistic educational journey to our students around the world and getting over 90% of them into their first-choice university destinations.”

Stonepeak senior managing director Nikolaus Woloszczuk said: “We are excited to help accelerate Inspired’s growth strategy as part of Stonepeak’s growing European presence and are eager to see the company bring its successful track record of fostering academic excellence and delivering improved outcomes to even more students globally.”

Stonepeak senior managing director James Wyper said: “We believe there is a vast need for investment in essential social infrastructure that supports innovation and productivity around the world and view education as a critical part of the equation.

“We look forward to identifying additional areas of investment opportunity where we believe we can make an impact within social infrastructure and to partnering with Inspired as the team advances its mission and growth ambitions in the years to come.”