Managing Partner of Safa Community School & Safa British School

Sameer Merchant started his career with Merrill Lynch in India and Singapore in the Investment Banking team. He has been involved in several landmark acquisitions, IPO mandates and capital restructuring across several industries comprising pharma, paper, telecom, IT and commodities. He has been involved in transactions advising the Government of India, Singapore and Indonesia on separate mandates.

Post Merrill Lynch, Sameer Merchant spent two years at GEMS Education, one of the largest private school owner-operator in the MENA region. Sameer was closely involved in building financial feasibility studies for all new schools and setting budgets for existing schools. Sameer was also involved in GEMS’s strategic acquisitions globally, as well as capital raising initiatives.

In 2007, Sameer joined Education Capital as a founding partner, which acquired 2 schools in the UAE and a chain of nursery in Egypt, which the company managed for four years.

Sameer keenly follows the changing education landscape internationally and is an avid student of international research on child development especially in early years.