48771 - Cogna

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Summary of Investment Information

Project Number

48771

Company Name

COGNA EDUCACAO SA

Date SPI Disclosed

Jun 30, 2025

Country

Brazil

Region

Latin America and the Caribbean

Projected Board Date

Nov 19, 2024

Environmental Category

B - Limited

Status

Active

Last Updated Date

Sep 13, 2025

Department

Regional Industry MAS LAC & EUR

Industry

Health, Education and Life Sciences

Previous Events

Approved : Nov 27, 2024
Signed : Jun 26, 2025
Invested : Sep 8, 2025

Sector

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

Project Description

Cogna Educação S.A. (“Cogna” or the “Group”), the largest private for-profit educational group in Brazil, and one of the largest in the world. The Group started as a pre-university course and entered the higher education sector in the 90s and became a listed in 2007. Cogna currently attends more than 2.56 million students from kindergarten to higher education and employs approximately 23 thousand people.

The proposed investment is an A loan for IFC’s own account in an amount of up to US$100 million equivalent in Brazilian Reais (BRL) and aims to support Cogna’s financing of investments in technology during the next 2-3 years in its higher education segment (no funds used for K-12) (“the Project”).

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	100.0
Equity

IFC's loan to the financial institution described in this SII is targeted for on-lending to the following sector(s):

Product Type	Use of Proceeds
Syndications	Others (only if UoP is not available)
Straight Senior Loan	Others (only if UoP is not available)

IFC's Definitions of Targeted Sectors can be found here.

Development Impact

The Project will support the Company’s digital transformation, investing in technology to integrate and upgrade its education systems into one digital platform, thereby enhancing the quality of affordable higher education. Through this Project, the Company will not only enhance student experience and engagement but also improve operational efficiencies, enabling students’ easier access to the education platform with better product offerings for distance learning and hybrid courses. This will ultimately lead to affordable education options for students across Brazil. By leveraging state-of-the-art technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and data analytics, the Company will further improve the quality and relevance of education, aligning its curriculum with market and student demands and enhancing learning outcomes. This will contribute to narrowing the skill mismatches of graduates in the labor market, resulting in improved employment opportunities post-graduation. In addition, the Project will contribute to enhancing competitiveness in the private higher education market in Brazil by supporting the Company’s strategic investment in cutting-edge technology, such as an integrated digital education platform. Through this Project, coupled with its hybrid learning and innovative digital curriculum, the Company will demonstrate its business strategy of enhancing the digital platform, which can be replicated by other private higher education providers, promoting a broader digital transformation within the higher education market in Brazil. As the leading trend-setter in the market, the Company’s embrace of advanced digital technologies will likely establish new benchmarks for educational delivery in Brazil, spurring innovation and technological adoption across the higher education sector. This is expected to catalyze a ripple effect, accelerating other higher education providers’ integration of digital technologies into various facets of teaching.

Financial Additionality:

Financing Structure: IFC’s proposed six-year loan will provide the flexibility required for the Group to implement its key digital initiatives. While Cogna’s investment in technology through this Project has a mid-to-long term payback period, such long-term financing is not readily available for Cogna in Brazil. IFC’s loan will match the payback period of this Project, consistent with the lifecycle of the tertiary education sector. This will support the Group in continuing to invest in strategic and impactful projects during a period of tight liquidity. Over the past 12 months, while the total face value of local currency syndicated loans was US$ 0.37 billion, there were neither BRL syndicated loans nor BRL corporate bond issuance at a corresponding rating of BB +/- in the Services sector.

Resource Mobilization: IFC will also mobilize US$30 million equivalent in BRL financing under the CIP. With the IFC, the Group will be able to secure approximately 50 percent of the total financing required to successfully integrate its systems into one platform.

Non-Financial Additionality:

Knowledge, innovation Resource Mobilization and capacity building: Cogna will join IFC’s Equality in Education and Employment (E3) peer learning platform, committing to implement three gender-smart actions. Additionally, IFC will provide three customized, complimentary sessions to improve Cogna’s practices in hiring and retaining people with disabilities and will monitor progress.

Standard setting: The Group will benefit from IFC’s E&S interaction, including appraisal and supervision activities, to further improve its current practices by addressing gaps with best international practices. IFC will conduct monitoring activities and support strengthening its E&S procedures and environmental organizational capacity.

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Policy on Environment and Social Sustainability (2012) with potential limited adverse environmental or social risks and/or impacts that are few in number, generally sitespecific, largely reversible, and readily addressed through mitigation measures. Key E&S issues associated with this investment include: i) E&S management system and client capacity; ii) management of labor and working conditions, including occupational health and safety (OHS) and mitigations for any potential Gender Based Violence and Sexual Harassment (GBVSH); iii) pollution prevention, including resource efficiency and management of solid and hazardous waste; iv) community health, safety and security; and life and fire safety (L&FS) risks for all campuses and v) stakeholder engagement and external grievance mechanism.

Contacts

For Inquiries About the Project, Contact

Cogna Educação S.A.
Rafael Barbosa De Carvalho
Treasury Manager
+55(21)98284-3865
rafael.b.carvalho@cogna.com.br
Rua dos Guajajaras, 591, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
www.cogna.br

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Local Access of Project Documentation

https://worldbankgroup-my.sharepoint.com/personal/alovisettotrenti_ifc_org/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Falovisettotrenti%5Fifc%5Forg%2FDocuments%2FCogna&FolderCTID=0x012000288AB3899133FB45A7932E724188654F&view=0

This Summary of Investment Information (SII) is prepared by IFC to disclose a factual summary of the main elements of the potential investment. Its purpose is to enhance the transparency of IFC’s activities. For any project documentation or data included or attached herein, whether prepared by the project sponsor or otherwise, authorization has been given for public release by the project sponsor. IFC considers that this SII is of adequate quality for release to the public, but has not necessarily independently verified all of the project information therein. It is distributed in advance of IFC Board of Directors’ consideration and may be periodically updated thereafter. Board dates are estimates only and this document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the Board Directors’ decision. The following SII is disclosed in accordance with IFC's Access to Information Policy (AIP) that went into effect on January 1, 2012.

The map is for illustrative purposes and does not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the World Bank, concerning the legal status of any country or territory or concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries. Country borders or names do not necessarily reflect the World Bank Group's official position. In some cases, available project location information is limited to the country of the project's activities. Locations are approximate.

Indicator	Metrics	Comments
Number of female students enrolled	#
Number of female students graduated	#

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