ANIM3 Anima Educação

Ânima Educação S.A., traded on B3 under the ticker ANIM3, is a Brazilian private education company primarily focused on higher education. The company began to take shape in 2003, when its founding shareholders started building an educational group through the acquisition of Minas Gerais Educação S.A., the sponsor of Centro Universitário UNA in Belo Horizonte (MG). Over the following years, the group expanded via acquisitions and restructurings of traditional higher education institutions in different regions of the country, integrating academic, administrative, and financial operations. In 2013, the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) granted the company registration as a category “A” securities issuer, and its initial public offering (IPO) was carried out, consolidating Ânima Educação’s position in the Brazilian capital markets.

The company’s inorganic growth trajectory includes the incorporation of institutions such as Unimonte in Santos (SP), which was later integrated into Universidade São Judas Tadeu, and the acquisition of UniBH in Belo Horizonte, which underwent a broad academic and financial restructuring. In 2014, its subsidiary Brasil Educação S.A. acquired 100% of the sponsor of Universidade São Judas Tadeu, strengthening Ânima’s presence in the city of São Paulo. In 2015, the company expanded its reach in the South region by taking over Sociedade Educacional de Santa Catarina (UniSociesc), which operates in multiple cities in Santa Catarina and, for a period, in Paraná. Other relevant acquisitions included the incorporation of Alis Educacional in Minas Gerais, whose operations were integrated into the UNA brand, and subsequent moves that led to the opening of new campuses in Minas Gerais, Goiás, and Santa Catarina, in addition to the acquisition of institutions with a strong regional presence in different Brazilian states.

Ânima Educação’s business model is centered on the provision of private educational services, mainly in higher education, organized within an ecosystem that encompasses undergraduate degrees, lato sensu and stricto sensu graduate programs, open enrollment courses, executive education, and continuing education programs. The company structures its operations into segments such as Ânima Core, which concentrates most of its on-campus and blended higher education and professional development programs (except medicine); Digital Education, focused on distance-learning undergraduate and graduate courses with intensive use of technology platforms; and Inspirali Educação Médica, a vertical that brings together the group’s medicine programs and activities related to its medical education ecosystem. Revenue comes mainly from the payment of tuition fees by students, supplemented by executive education services, events, and learning solutions for the corporate environment.

On the academic front, Ânima Educação operates a diversified portfolio of higher education brands with national presence, including UNA, Anhembi Morumbi, UniSociesc, UNIFACS, Milton Campos, São Judas, UNP, UniBH, UniRitter, AGES, UniFG-BA, FADERGS, UniCuritiba, FPB, UniSul, FASEH, UniFG-PE, and IBMR. These institutions offer on-campus and digital programs in different fields of knowledge, including Law, Engineering, Architecture, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Agronomy, and various technological and bachelor’s degrees. The company’s educational ecosystem is organized around the concept of lifelong learning, through the Ecossistema Ânima de Aprendizagem (E2A), which integrates modular curricula, active learning methodologies, strong interdisciplinarity, and the use of digital platforms, seeking to reconcile standardized academic guidelines with faculty autonomy and alignment with regional demands.

Inspirali Educação Médica is a key pillar of Ânima Educação’s strategy, unifying and developing the group’s medical programs. This vertical emerged from the experience accumulated in projects to implement and restructure medical courses at dozens of higher education institutions across Brazil and was strengthened by the company’s participation in public calls under the Mais Médicos Program, which expanded the supply of seats and courses in cities such as Cubatão (SP) and Tucuruí (PA). Inspirali currently serves thousands of medical students, with greater presence in the Southeast and South regions, and also offers solutions for the entire medical training cycle, including undergraduate education, residency, and continuing medical education. In 2022, a strategic alliance was signed with DNA Capital to bring the medical education ecosystem closer to the healthcare sector, focusing on the integration of care practice, innovation, and professional training.

In addition to traditional higher education activities, Ânima Educação has developed specialized arms in executive education, corporate education, and learning experiences geared to the business environment. The acquisition and subsequent full control of HSM do Brasil S.A. and HSM Educação S.A. placed the company in a niche of events and management solutions, organizing conferences, forums, and seminars that bring together senior executives and high-profile international speakers. The company also includes brands such as HSM University, EBRADI (focused on Law), the Instituto de Artes Culinárias Le Cordon Bleu São Paulo in a joint venture with the French group Le Cordon Bleu, SingularityU Brazil, and the innovation hub Learning Village, as well as digital joint ventures such as Vivae Digital and Community Creators Academy. These operations expand the company’s presence in continuing education, open enrollment courses, and corporate training, all integrated with its undergraduate and graduate portfolio.

Geographically, Ânima Educação has established itself as one of the largest private higher education groups in Brazil, with campuses spread across 12 states: Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Bahia, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, and Pará, in addition to a network of hundreds of learning centers that support digital and blended learning activities. Revenue is generated mostly within Brazil, with no material contribution from foreign operations. There is no concentration in a single client or economic group, as revenue is diversified among hundreds of thousands of students, reducing dependence on any individual customer.

The company’s activities are subject to a broad and detailed regulatory environment, particularly because it operates private higher education, whose oversight is a federal responsibility. Ânima Educação depends on authorizing and assessment acts issued by the Ministry of Education (MEC) and associated bodies, such as the National Council of Education (CNE), the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (INEP), and the National Commission for the Evaluation of Higher Education (CONAES), for the accreditation and re-accreditation of institutions, the authorization and recognition of programs, the periodic renewal of evaluations, and participation in specific public programs. In basic education, when present, regulation is the responsibility of state and municipal education councils, in line with Brazil’s federative structure. Ongoing interaction with this regulatory framework is a central part of the group’s operations, which must maintain academic quality standards, a qualified faculty, adequate infrastructure, and compliance with national education guidelines in order to sustain its authorizations and expand its presence in the sector.

From a governance and environmental and social practices standpoint, Ânima Educação operates as a publicly held company, with common shares listed on B3, which entails the adoption of formal management structures, periodic disclosure of information, and compliance with capital markets regulations. The group also maintains Instituto Ânima and initiatives aimed at the production, promotion, and dissemination of culture and education, in addition to working on consulting projects, university extension, and interaction with the public and private sectors in education and innovation. While the institutional discourse emphasizes principles such as social transformation through education, the use of technology in the teaching process, and a focus on student employability, the company remains essentially positioned as a private higher education group with a strategy of sector consolidation, diversification of regional brands, and expansion of its student base in on-campus, digital, and continuing education programs, with ANIM3 as the main vehicle for retail investors to access its corporate structure on B3.