KKR has agreed to acquire a majority stake in XCL Education Holdings in a deal valuing the Southeast Asian school operator at approximately $1.3 billion, Bloomberg reports. The firm outbid rival investors for the stake previously held by TPG. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

XCL Education operates K-12 school campuses across Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, including XCL World Academy in Singapore and the American School of Bangkok. Temasek Holdings is also a shareholder in the company. The $1.3 billion agreement reinforces KKR's conviction in education platforms across Asia, where the firm has backed multiple education assets including Lighthouse Learning in India and Taylor's Education Group.

KKR has deployed approximately $15 billion across Southeast Asia, recently leading a consortium to acquire data centre operator STT GDC for S$6.6 billion ($5.2 billion) and providing $750 million in financing to Chandra Asri Group. The XCL acquisition underscores sustained private equity appetite for scalable education platforms in high-growth Southeast Asian markets, where demand for quality K-12 education continues to rise.