Pearson buys Brazil's language training firm Grupo Multi

LONDON (Reuters) - British media and education group Pearson has agreed to buy Grupo Multi, the largest provider of adult English language training in Brazil, to strengthen its presence in the fast-growing Latin American country, it said on Tuesday. It acquired the whole company from the Martins family, the majority shareholder with a 78 percent stake, and from investment firm Kinea for about 440 million pounds ($720 million) in cash and the assumption of 65 million pounds of debt. The London-listed Pearson group said it expected the acquisition would help it to speed up the deployment of its Wall Street English language schools in Brazil, and it would over time use Grupo Multi's products and services in its schools business and in other countries. Grupo Multi, which serves over 800,000 students in Brazil, delivers English language courses through school brands including Wizard, Yazigi, Microlins and Skill. (Reporting by Silvia Antonioli; editing by Paul Sandle)