The strategic transaction builds on forty years of excellence and strengthens the growth of educational investments in Italy
Rome, December 4, 2025
It is with great pride that Santoro & Partners announces having advised the parties in the transaction that marks the entry of St. Francis International School into the Ingenium Education network, the first Italian group dedicated to developing innovative international schools. The transaction continues the consolidation process in the education sector, an area in which the Firm is currently engaged on several growth and M&A deals.
St. Francis International School, founded by Mrs. Diane Proietti and recognized for over forty years as a model of educational excellence, represents a point of reference in the Capital’s international offering. Its entry into the Ingenium Education network demonstrates the growing interest of institutional investors in structured school assets with a strong pedagogical identity.
Ingenium Education thus continues its development strategy, integrating into its network a historic institution that covers the educational journey from early childhood through middle school, with a curriculum that combines international tradition with the requirements of the Italian system. The educational project aims to combine academic rigor, teaching innovation, and continuity with the institution’s history.
Santoro & Partners, under the direct guidance of Lawyers Andrea Santoro and Nunzio Lanteri, together with Dr. Stefania Giancarli, handled the contractual and regulatory aspects as well as coordination between the parties. This engagement forms part of a broader advisory and scouting activity that, in recent years, has brought together qualified investors and educational institutions interested in growth, expansion, or integration into international networks.
In a context where the private education and training campus sector is attracting a growing number of operators and specialized funds, Santoro & Partners further strengthens its role as a natural point of reference for entities considering opportunities for sale, aggregation, or development of new projects in the field of international schools, student housing, and educational campuses. This involvement confirms the Firm’s commitment to supporting structural evolution processes in the sector, with a multidisciplinary approach that combines legal, tax, and strategic expertise in service of highly transformative transactions.
“We are deeply satisfied,” stated Avv. Andrea Santoro. “Having contributed to bringing together two such important entities, giving both the opportunity to jointly embark on a new path of development, is a source of great enthusiasm for us. The deal concluded by Ingenium and St. Francis is part of a broad series of strategic scouting operations and assessments of significant assets that Santoro & Partners is carrying out in the education sector.”
