Investor

An Irish acquisition recently announced sees two well known brand names in the international education space under new owners. Dublin-based Independent News & Media has sold private third-level college Independent Colleges Ltd and ELT operator IH Dublin. The new owners are members of the Cork-based Barry family and owners of Barry’s Tea brand.

Global education provider Navitas is set to acquire California-based creative media college Ex’pression for US$13 million. The deal will be completed through the company’s media education subsidiary, SAE Institute Group. With campuses near San Francisco and San Jose, the move will double SAE’s locations in the state.

North America-based International Studies Abroad has merged with GlobaLinks Learning Abroad, expanding its portfolio of study destinations in the Asia Pacific region. The agreement will result in GlobaLinks branding being phased out over the coming months, bringing the entire company under the ISA name by January 2015.

Mid-market private equity firm Bowmark Capital has bought a minority share in ISIS Education Group and is providing development capital funding to support the business's expansion plans. Founded in 1991, ISIS is a UK-based education business providing English language, sixth-form, university pathways and educational tour programmes to UK and international students.

Australia-based Holmes Group has entered the US and Canadian markets after acquiring four North American locations of Sol Schools International with plans to expand in the region The PIE News has learned. The group will also move into the pathway market after signing an agreement with the UK's University of Buckingham.

Bucksmore Education, part of the ISIS Education and Travel Group, has acquired home tuition provider Homelingua. Traditionally a provider of summer programmes for children and teenagers, the addition of the homestay course network marks an expansion of Bucksmore Education's product portfolio.

A St Paul's Bay hotel in Malta is to be sold to European School of English (ESE) in a deal worth €14m, according to the Times of Malta. The acquisition is the first entire acquisition in a hotel that the school has made and is a significant investment into accommodation for its clients.

Members of the Abroad 101 advisory board have acquired the US-based study abroad directory with plans to bring it back from the brink of closure. The new owners intend to use the site, which attracts more than 2,000 visitors daily, to increase accountability in student mobility and advocate for "off the beaten path" study experiences.

Apollo Global, the investment branch of Apollo Education Group – one of the world's largest private education providers – has acquired Australia-based Open Colleges– a leading distance education provider in operation since 1910. Open Colleges says the deal makes international expansion more viable.

UK-based Cambridge Education Group has been sold to a US-based private equity firm, Bridgepoint Capital, it was announced today, for an enterprise value of UK£185 million. Ex-owners, Palamon Capital, acquired CEG in 2007 and achieved an acquisition multiple of 11 times the current year trading forecast.

Education giant Pearson has made a major acquisition in Brazil of an ELT business that spans several brands and serves 800,000 students. The acquisition of Grupo Multi for UK£500m will enable Pearson to leverage booming demand for ELT from the expanding middle classes, it said.

Hotcourses – the UK-based online publisher of global and national education opportunities – could be sold to a digital specialist investment buyer in a deal that will aim to double Hotcourses’ business over the next five years, co-founder and CEO Mike Elms has revealed to The PIE News. Any investment will fuel further expansion plans, with China a strategic focus.

Cambridge Education Group (CEG) has acquired US English language teaching operation Boston Academy of English, rounding out its portfolio of education institutions in the American city and marking another first in its campaign to expand internationally.

Global University Systems (GUS) has gone public as the overarching group and brand that joins together operations including the well known LSBF business school enterprise. GUS's latest group member is GISMA Business School in Germany, rescued from insolvency.

Canadian-based CIBT Education Group Inc. has agreed to sell its subsidiary King George International College & King George International Business College (KGIC) to Loyalist Group Limited, a consolidator of English as a Second Language companies, for CAN$13.5 million subject to certain adjustments.